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NOTICES OF THE DEBATE WHICH LED TO THE
nvLwasKo of thb
CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE.
^w^^w^»»^l»^^^^^^^»^»%^»\^^»»^^^^^^rlfc
coLVMiof, MiM., lay.
Ml. B9tro»— I km Utoight that a conclie accooat of thii debau mlfht aot b» iniccMia
llf tP yov readaia. Hto a moitifyiDg fiict, that this cUt haa becooie WAuaa^—at nthm mnj^
■ova tor the praTalanca of Delam aDd Atbefam aroong ker clUaaoa. Thia haa bean pfoducad
m a good degroa bj tha aflbru of an old gaaileman b/ tha DAme of Oliutbd. Since hia raaU
danca hera, whteh baa baan about four yaata, ha baa baan antlring In hia axaniooa to aow the
•aada of nonldaath in thia community. HehaaonanisedhiaeonTarta into abaBd,and ooe-
maa ^ytemattfally. He haa written a boolt. wloeh la not exceeded by Ton PAJin'a ige
if BeaaoB, for acorrility and ridlc«l«> The old genUemaa ia aa aitftil aa the old Dnanom
hfaaaalf ; bj which meana he haa obtained an hnmenaa inflnence orer the mlnda of the
yoQog aMD of thie place*
The circamauncea which gaTe riaa to the debate were aa followa: the Bar. Janpa Saatth,
daring a viait to thIa city, deltyered a few diaconraaa oo the daogecoua iaadeneiaa of Infldalityv
addreaiing himaelf particularly to the youth. Tbia Induced a committee at Infidel gaaUeataa
^ addreaa a written challenge to Mr. S., to meet their champion. Mr. •., In a publie debatak
Mr. S. by the adTica of many intelligent (Henda of truth, accepted the challenge. The UflM
arrived, and the diacuaaioa commenced* All waa anxiety and luareat. The heaaa wa«
iiowded, even the alalea and windowa, with aitaotlye bearera. They ananged to apeak altaiw
Baialy, one, two botna each nighi, and the other a half hoar: ao the debate comlaued twe
kovia and a naif each nighL From the repreaentailon of Mr. O.^a talenta, learning, and piepi^
ntton, we were made to tremble for the reaalta ; but we were not a llule diaappoiatea to find
tka old gemleman fell (ar below hia fiune. • • « a « a a
He aaaerted that the Jewa did not belloTe In a future atate of exiatence, until aftar tha
Babyloniah capUTiiy ; that they borrowed their docirinea of the immortality of the aool froai
tta natlona among whom they were diaperaed— that the Jewa believed in a plurality of Qoda
that St. Paul waa the author of Chriatlanity— that Chrlatlanitjr eocouragee polygamy. Te
prove this laat poaltlon, he quoted Paul'a direction to Timothy r •^ Let a blihop be the hoabaad
d one wife." And to crown the maaa of abaurditaea, he enoeavoied to prove that the bloaeed
Jaiaa waa a baae impoator.
We found Mr. Smith well preoared for the conteat. He had hia aigumanu ayalematically
iRanged — had written them all, and read them welL He proved to a demonatntion, the
aamniisvBaa, AUTHBimciTT and oraPuunoM of the did Teatameot Scripturaa. Hia aifu>
Baou were intereatlog and convincing. Hia arguoienu on the New Teatameni were equally
kappy, and if poaaible, more convioetng. The conduaion of every enquirer after truth, muat
have been, that the champion of Deiam waa algnaily defeated, and hia cauae left bleeding on
the field. I doubt not but the defeat would have been more complete, had Mr. 8. ommed
acNne of hia peraonal allualonai and bad he auppreeaed hia natural Inclination to aarcaam. In.
dead hia blaata of aarcaam were truly wiTHxauro. Hia opponent, finding he could not cope
whh him in thia reapect, retreaiad, and took ahelter under the ajmpathlea ef hia audience.
Youra^ltc.
ONE OP THB HKARKK8.
CoLvntra, Mlaa., May 11th, IM.
Dsaa 8iE— Knowliic that many of yoor readen are acquainted with the Rer. Jamea Smith,
formarty editor of the Cumberland Preabyterian, I have thou; bt it might be iniereatlng to aoany
ef them to hear aomeihing of the dlacuaaion in which he haa been engaged In thia place.
When on a vlait to thia place In the winter of '39 and '40, be waa challenged to meet Mr. C. O.
^ — ._^ « . .^. ^ ^j dlacuaa the merita and dhrlne clalma of ChriaUanhy. Be
Olmated, Baq., of thia place, and dlacuaa the merita and dhrlne clalma of ChriaUanhy. Be
accordingly, in the course of laat mouth, met Mr. O., and aa the defender uf the Bible agalnat
Ike attacka of ihe lattergentleman, gave to thia community a courae of lecturea of the moat
kNanailng chataciar. Thia dlacoaaton waa fur the moat part confined to the gaattinanaaa, crad-
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H NOTICES OF DEBATE.
tbnkjand iBfplratiM of th* Scriptorat oT Uio 014 TMUnwat. I tm anicli piMMd tiMl U
took up the mailor at thlt point, for moat doreodera of the ftltk beve reeted Mtlafied wfth th«
New Teetmment; This te compenUToly an eeey taak ; but ao Utile hae been done of lata
to plaee the Old T^atament In an advantageooi light before the conmanitT, that It be>
^ , ^ . ity,i
cane abaolntely neGemry to give It a eltuation in the froM of hie wfrnMu of defeacei. B«
aatoaiihed ue with the great amount and atrength of eztamal eridence In their fovor. In hit
Mt of thia proof, great order and eleameaa waa moat evident. Be then took up the
prapheclea, and lujheM hejiraa eqiMUy aa Mtl^Aaoqr. Some elghteea oighta were occupledy
«malp
idence.
Ddation
iflceof
I all ita parte. TheChriatian*i«faiemoffolthi
•0 uat time waa afforded him to poraoe that ayatematic courae which he had lald^out.
ilden
aaci
that he oceupied two or three nighta in laying a broad foundation, upon n . _
ftmeture to which I have joat adTorted, waa reared. The edifice of delenee ihue conatructed,
appeared atrong and well proportioned in all ha parte. The Chriatlan*i «yaiMn "^""
ThIa cooelated. aa I haire incidentallT remarked, of the external proof of the Old and Hew
Tealamenta, and the whole waa cloaed with the Internal eridence. It la proper to remark»
that he occupied two or three nighta in laying a broad foundation, upon which the aoper>
•a preeented by him, moat beaotlftil to behold. Eyery one of unbiaaed mind waa left at th*
cloee, a firmer and more Intelligent believer. Mr. Smith haa done much, very much for th*
whole Chriatlan church. Be haa done for more than hia moat aancuine frienda dared to expect.
All looked for a maaterly eflbrt. but none could have anticipated ao entire and decided a vic-
tory aa thia provea to be. Be haa by It clearly proved himaelf capable of great, and gigantic
intellectual eflbrta. I have had many worka on thia eobject, but i know of none embraced
whhln the aame coropeaa of theae leaurea that can claim equality. Tou may think thia too
■trong, but the truth la, Mr. Smith atanda in thia matter, Ut above my feeble eulogiea. We all
ewe him a debt, a great debt, and aa he wiabee io publlah a work aa the reault of thie matter, I
hope he will be liberally encouiaged by aU ChriatiaBe of aU namea. Be will receive a large
MhacilptkMi In thia country. C. C. PRESTON.
MAMAMAMM^AMMA^^>M«^>MMM«M^^^AM«W«^
rVmmths Unim EvorngMaL
CoLJnan, Miai., April, ISO.
r Dbab Sn^Not having written you before aince my departure for New Orleana, and h .
wHneaaed In the interval many thiMB both uuon land and water, you no doubt think that If
whneaaed in the interval many thlnga both upon land and water, you no doubt think that by
thia time, out of aome of them I ought to be able to dlachaige, in part at leaat, the obligation
under which I am broocht to you lor your kind letter received aince I arrived here. But to
leave minor thlnga aa aubjecu for converaation, when we ahall meet again, I moat take up thii
In lettlnf you know aometbing about the debate between the champion of Infldelitv, (C. O.
Olmatedo and that noble defender of the Chriatlan cauae, our Mr. Smith ; and here I can do
llttte more than excite, without being able to gratify, your curioeity. Why, I aak, did you not
attend I You have miaaed an Intelleaual feaat, which nothing abort of a volume containing
the matter on the Chriatlan aide of the queation can aupply. Should auch a work be pub-
llahed, which I hope will be done, I apeak confidently, when I aav, If eatimated according to
Ha worth, it will be read with man iiUwMt than any almilar publication either of ancient or
aM>dem timea.— I arrived here a week before the debate commenced, and have betfn a regular
attendant, from the commencement to the cloae. Of the Intereef which the citisena of the
place took In the diacuaiion, you can the better Judge, when I tell you that on the laat, thn
nineteenth night of the debate, we had a good, we mav aay, a large audience.— It la true, there
bad been aome foiling off in the attendance for aome time previooa, but thia la to be accounted
for very eaally. In the firat place, the debate commenced during the aeaalon of one of th*
courta in thia place, which had brought many peraona to town ftom the country, and the church
waa crowded for aome nighta to overflowing, there being many who could not obtain aeata ;
and for aome time before the cloae, the audience had been diaappointed in conaequence of Mr.
Olmated not'beini able to debate, profeailng to be aick, which! have no reaaon to doubt, aa he
waa evidently quite reduced, and waa aaid, by a phyaician of the place, at one time to ne out
of hia aenaea. And It waa by no meana atrange that auch ahouid have been the caae. For
. npart from any other cauae of diatraciion, for a man of hia intellect to atand in oppoaitlon to the
flood of light and weight of argument which he did, both the mental and phyaical derange-
ment which he au fibred, a canaid Infidel himaelf might account for without being compelled
to believe a miracle. To attempt to give you In the compaaa of a letter any account of the
mieerable eophiatry by which he attempted to auatain hia ainking cauae, would be ueeleea.
Bowever, In ralatkw to one of hia pnaitiona at the outaet. *< that Infidelity ia nothing ;** I donbi
not that before the cloae, he felt that aa much of a nothing aa h waa, that it liad became to him
potUivel^ very troubleaome, and moat of hia Infidel frienda of any diacemment,I am perraaded,
would much rtther that nobody had had their boeated nothing to manage.
But that you may judge for youraelf on thia point, a abort account of the cloae will be anlk
dent. After Mr. Smith had cloaed hia anument on the laat night, and returned to the audW
•nee hia thanka, Mr. Omated roae and told the audience that be ahouid occupy aa much or
more time than uaual, but if there were any that wiehed to leave, he would not think hard of
them doing ao, but intimated that he expected the frienda of truth only to remain. Wher»>
upon the congregation in a crowd, wttb a few exceptlone only, left the houae, and to thee^
with a few othera who dropped back ftom the crowd, the ola man raved for a while aal
- • ^'^ JAMES WALLIS.
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TRB
^4hiffyU^^.
CHEISTIAFS DEFENCE,
QOWTumaQ
A FAIR STATEMENT, AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION
OF Tax
lEilllG OBJBCf I0R8 UUID BT IRFIIBII
▲OAINVT THS
ANTIQUITY, OENT7INENE88, CREDIBILITT AND INSPIRATION
or TMB
HOLY SCRIPTURES;
KWBJGBBD WITH COPI0178 EXTRACTS FROM LBARNBD AUTHORS.
f^WM^^M^^
BT JAMES SMITH.
"ThaChrirtiMi F^ith,
UoKkB dM tirn'raoa ereeds of pagan priaati.
If flaak. stands ibrth to Tisw. inThing all
To piofo* examiao* search* Unrestifato :
Aai fne hoMlf a light to see her hf.**^Hatett Omrm 9f TIm. B. iv
«"If 1 teve dsoe iseB. and as b flttiog the story, it b that whieh I deeind: bat ifilwiliilf
Md wiMly* H k that wUth I ooald attain anto.'*-9 JliicaAess zr. 38.
TWO VOLUMES IK OKS.
VOL. I.
CINCINNATI:
STEREOTYPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A JAMES.
1S43.
V Digitized^-i tftS^ , i^
^'^,S!j^^AHl^
Enfterad, aoooidiDg to Act of CongiMi, in the yev 1848,
BT JAMES BHITH,
In the Ckik't Ofl&oe for the Dwtdot Court of Kentm^.
.....
••• • •
•• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
» • • •• • '
••• •;• ••; ••• :•::•'
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TO
THE HONORABLE
HENRY p. BRODNAX,
THIS WORK
IS
MOST GBATSFULLT A9D MOST RESPSCTFULLT IlfSCRIBSDi
BY HIS FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
MAYU,MDCCCXLm.
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CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.
Om nn CmsMB&irr, AmnaviTT, ahd OnnnmnMi of ths Oia TmatAMMMW SoBipnrmia.
CHAPTER L
The iMtioog of the earth indebted to the Jews for the Bibles— Tiylor^ aMerUon. thai bo ioeh
ndoo aa the Jewish erer existed, jts confoutioii. The Jews and Christians hold the Old
Testament to be a Revelation from Ood. Infidels hold this to be untme. How the qaeeHoa
ai issue is to be settled. The Crane of mind necessary to an impartial examination of the
sabjecL— Objections of the Atheistical Infidel against the clalmii of the Bible as a diTine
revelation. Mr. Olmsted's misrepresentation of the position of the advocates of Revelation.
The qoastioiis a& ivoe between the Christian and Atheist. That between the Christian and
Deist. T^ Paob 1
SBonoii I.— Conftitatlon of the theory of the materialisu Confutation of the poshloos of the
two classes of Atheists. •
SncTioM n.— Hume^ aifmnent to prove thtt Polytheism was the fint relifion of mtntind
Its confutation; n
Sbctioh III.— Of the style of the Old Testament Scriptures. Example from Mr. OlnMted«
showing the necessity of understanding its nature. The Scriptures speak the language of
appearances, but slrialy philosophical 40
CHAPTER n.
Mr. Olmsted's assertion concerning the requisitions of the advocate of Revelation in exam>
ining the credibility of the Mosaic writinn. Its &lsehood. His allegation that the first sob-
teoce in the Bible contains a falsehood. The confutation of his argumenu His objection to
the credibility of the Mosaic narrative of the creation founded on the statement that the world
was made in six days. Vindication of the Mosaic narrative^— Infidel objection to the Blosaic
narrative founded on the zodiacs In the temples of Laupolls and Tantyra. Its follacy.— Dr.
Keith's proofii of the truthfulness of the Uoeaic narrative of the creation. ... 48
Sscnoif L— Mosaic account of the creatioo confirmed by tradition. The Hindoo account ;
thai of Ovid; the Phenlcian; the Egyptian: that of Plato.— The heathen tradition coocern-
ing the fint man. Division of time into weeks, a confirmation of the Mosaic narrative. 76
Sbotioh IL— Paine's and Olmsted's objections on account of the narrative of the foil of man.
Their confutation. The Mosaic narrative of the foil of man confirmed by heathen traditions;
by the universality of serpent worship ; by the condition of mankind ; by the opinions of the
heathen philoeophers concerning the corruption of human nature; by the belief of the
BiBhmiiis; by the opinions of the classical mytbologists, and by the universal practice of ani-
mal sacrifice.>-The account of the translation of Enoch confirmed by the Grecian fobles.~
The kmgevity of the antediluvian pauiarchs confirmed by heathen traditions.^Mo8aic ac-
count of men of gigantic stature confirmed by the Greek and Latin poets. ... 85
CHAPTER m.
Objection to the Mosaic narrative of the deluge, because contrary to the philosophy of Na*
tme. Its follacy.— The truth of the narrative confirmed by the fossil remains oCenimals.—
Ofetjectfon founded on the size of the- ark. Shown to be follacloos.— Objection founded on
certain marks of antiquity said to exist In the lava of Mount Etna. Mr. Home's confutatloB -
of the argument.— Objection on account of the difforencee of color existing among mankind,
lis fallacy. Dr. Good's argument, confirmatory of the Mosaic narrative.— <)bjections founded
upon the supposed antiquiiy of the eastern nations. Confutatfon of \he objectlon.—Obiectloa
founded on Uie condition uf America when discovned by Columbus. ProoM that two dbtlnct
races of men immigrated into America from Asia. The prveent Indians, of the same race with
the tribes of Northern Asia. The ancient Meiicans ana Peruvians) origlitally proceeded from
the same stock with the nations of Southern Asia. 100
SscTioir L— Mosaic account of the deluge confirmed by pagan hlsfofv. Its memory in*
corporated with almost every part of the heathen mythology. Noah claimed by all the
heauien nations as their founder, and worehiped by them as a god. Saturn, of the Greeks
mod lAtins, Menu of the Hindoos, sad Noah Identical. The Hindoo account of the deluse.
The Chinese and Grecian accounts. The ark mentioned by heathen hlilorians. Plutarch's
notice of the dove which was sent out of the ark. The heathens carried their deities in an
«rk. Ancient medals commemorative of the deluge. American traditions of that calamity.
Summing up of the aigumeot. 125
Sbctiom II.— Confirmation of the Mosaic representation of the origin of foroilies and nations.
Testimony of Sir W. Jones.— Confirmation of the Mosaic account of the tower of Babel.— Of
the destruaion of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham, Imac, and Jacob known to the ancient
heathens. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to invalidate the Moealc account of the condition of the
Israelites In Egypu The confutation of his argument.— His argument to invalidaie the truth
of the Mosaic narrative of the exode of the Israelites from Egypt and the circumstances
attending it. Vindlcailon of the Muoaic narrative^— Explanation or the design of the mlracu*
loos Interposition in behalf of the Israelites. The fitness and tendency of each of the plagues
Inilicied upon the Egyptians. Confuution of Mr. Olmsted's allegation that Moses eziurted
permission for the Israelites lo leave Egypt, by false pretensions. Vindication of the Mosaic
•cconni of the hardening of Pharaoh's hearu Mr. Olmsted's supposition that the Israelitee
were a horde of rude barbarians. In behalf of whom there was no divine Interposition. The
fUUcyaBd-absordity of his supposition 135
Sbctioh Ul.— Collateral testimony confirmative of the Moseic account of the exode of
the Itraelites from Egypt, their sojourn in the wilderness, and seuleroent In Canaan. Curt-
one discovery confirmatory of the Mosaic narrative. Trogus* account of the origin of the
Jews. The account of their origin by Apion, an Egyptian writer, manetho's account of the
ehepherde who retreated from Egypt to Judea. Tacitus' account of the origin of the Jews.
AitepenM* leliUoa roBiinilng Mobsb. isBee aad Jaabref the E|yptlaB magician^ well
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n C0NTBNT8.
known to hetUiMi wrItMS. 8tnbo^ tccoont of Motet. The tccoont of tbo Hellopolhanf
concerninc th« potttge of the Red tea. A tlmH»r tradition bf Diodomt. The Inhabitantt of
Corondel to thit day pretenre the remembranca of ite P»>^ o^ ^* I^ tea bj the Itraelitet.
confinn the Motaic nairaUve. The writer of the Orphic vertet tpeal* of Motet and the
Ublat of the Law. Diodomt Slcnlua noticet Motet. Dlonytiot LtwglDiit maket hooorabla
mention of Motet. Accuracy of the Motaic narratlre of the tqjonra in the wildemett con>
finned Xxf Laborde. The tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor, confinnt tbt truth of the Motaic mrra-
tire. Snmming up ot the argument from collateral tettimony. A Tory conclntlve evidenoo
of the truth of the Motaic hittory quoted from Dr. Keith.— The hittory of the Itraelitet tirt)te*
qnent to the tetileroent in Canaan corroborated by profiuie writert. Curlout ditcovery, illot-
trative of the Scriptural account of the war carried on by Pharaoh- Necho againn the Jewt and
Babyloniant.— Confutation of the objeaion founded by Infidelt upon the toppoted tterility of
the toil of PaletUne. Forcible teeUroony to the credibility of the Old Tettament S^.ripUirM
aflbrded by the pretent condition of the Jewt * . . 150
CHAPTER IV.
Eilbrtt of Infldelt to ehow that the bookt of the Old Tetument are fonerlea of comparatively
modem date. Their objections contidered. Curloot ditcorery iUottraihre of the antiquity and
exactnett ofthe Motaic writiogt. The utter impottibility of the bookt being forgeries proven.—
Mr. Olrotted^t argument to prove that the book of the law wat forged by Ezra. Confutation
of hit argument. Pnoft that the law could not have been foreed by DaniiA nor by any of the
oaptives in Babylon ; that it could not have been forged by Isaiah. A foigery could not have
been efibcted alter the revolt of the ten tribet. It could not have been forfed by David ; nor
by Saul ; nor by any of the Judget who preceded Samuel. The law ezitted in Jothnat
tune. Jothua could not' have forged the law. The imposstbilitv of mactiting a fraud upon the
Itraelitet during the tojoura in the wiidernest.— The booktof the rentateuch have Intemid
markS} which demonstrate that they were written by Motets— The book of Genetit Included
by the Jews in the book of the law. Evidences of its antiquity and genuinenett.— Profone
teiUmony to the genuineness of the Moealc writings— Objeaion on the groend that althoogfa
Motet wrote a book called the book of the law. we nave no evidence that it wat the book now
current in hit name. The objection considered and answered 198
SioTioN L— Ohjection of Infiels against the books of Judges. Kingt, and Chronlclet, b»
caute they are anonymout. The objection answered.— The objectiont against the genuine-
nett of the other bookt of the Old Tettament. In effect antwered in the iioregoing argumenlt.—
Mr. Paine't argument to prove that the Motaic wriiingt are tpurioutf founded upon the ttyle.
Confuutlon ofnlt argument— Hit argument founded oo the pattage *'Now the man Motet wae
Ttry meek," &c. lit confouiion.— Hit argument foundedf on the tiatement that Abraham
puiaued the four kingt unto Dan, Itt follacy.— Hit argument founded on what It taid of
the detcendantt of Emu. The argument contidered, and confuted.— Hit argument founded
on the psttage ** The children of Itrael did eat manna until thev came to a land inhabited,**
Aw. Itt fallacy. Hit argument founded on what is said concerning Ok's bedstead. The am-
ment confutedw— The argument founded on the record of the death of Moses being conuinedin
the books auributed to him. Tlie argument confuted— The evidences adduced etiablithei the
geneinenett and credibility of the bookt.— Objection that Motet mutt have borrowed the hit-
tory of the creation fh>m the tradiliont which obulned in hit time. Beply to the objeaion.—
The quettlon whence did Motet derive the materialt of hit hittory 1 Antwered by Mr. Horae<-
Objection on the ground that no dependence It to be placed In the pretent text of the Old
Tettament Scriptuiat. lie fallacy 2f7
CHAPTER V.
A number of objectiont necetsarily omitted, tuted and antwered.— Mr. Olmsted's argu-
ment to prove that the author of the book of Genesis was a polnhelst. Itt eonfutation^— Hit
argument to prove, that the author of the hook of Genesis believed God to be a CMporeal
being. Its confuution. Objections founded on the sutements concerning Cain. Their fol*
lacv. Cavil of Infidels at the curse pronounced by Noah upon Canaan. Its unreatonablentit.
Objectiont founded on the caute atsigned for the dtversKy of languaffst. Yindication of the
Scriptural account.^— Objection founded on the conduct of Lot. Its fallacy.— Objection found-
ed on the misconduct of Abraham. Consideration of the objection as applf *
Consideration of the objection as applied not merely to
Abraham, but, also, to Jacob and David.— Objection on the sround that God Is represented st
commanaing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Vindication of the Scriptural account of that affair.—
Objeaion, on the ground that circumcision was first practised by the Egyptians. Its fallacy.
—Objection founded on the represenution given by Moses of the works or the Egyptian ma-
giciant during the plaguet in Egypt. Mr. Farmer't tatisfociory reply 360
Sbctiok I.— Infidels assert that the pillar of cloud and fire is a fiction. The assertion con-
tidered and answered.— The assertion that the Israelites crossed the Red sea at Sues. Yindl-
catioa sf the Scriptural account. Assertion that the tremendous scene upon Sinai wat e
cheat. Itt fallacy. 01mtted*t objeaion founded on the length of time the Itraeliiet were in
the wilderness. Explanation of the design of the dealings of Jehovah with the Israelite*.
Yindication of the dresses, rites, and customs enjoined by the ceremonial law.— Objectloa
founded on the repeated apottaciet of the Israelites. The objection contidered and antwecw
ed.— The objection founded on the treatment of the Moabitet and Midianites. Considered and
answered.— Objection, on the ground that the Israelites were commanded to exterminate the
Canaaniies. Contidered and answered.— Atsenion that the Old Testament Scriptures tanaloB
adultery and murder. Its falsehoods— Assertion that Jehovah kept false prophets, and vicdated
hit promises. Mr. Home's answer.— Objection founded on the speaking of Balaam's atn
Considered and answered.— Mr. Paine's objeaion on the gnmnd that the tun it repretented
at ttanding ttill upon Mount Oibeon. Yindication of the Scriptural account of that mlraculooe
event. Dr. Clarke't very tatisfoctory reply to the objeaion.— Objection founded on the
ntstige, ** Itaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, and he brought the thadow ten degreee
backward, by which It had gone down on the dial of Ahas." Slelgh\i leply^-OfajecUoM
toundtdoawhatlfMadof thewUchof Endor. Conaideced end toanred. , . • • .S7S
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COIfTBllTS. yil
VOLUME n.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER IL
CHAPTER m.
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VIU
CONTBNTa
tatdmoDy of Bir W. Joom In*
Chriat wm'b niicukaa
«oanuatioo.
ion _ _ - » • mS»i«n «otf2
— ArittflMiit by Mr.' Olmtted to prove that Jerai Chriat vaa a wiekad impoator. u|
CHAPTER TV.
ofniefa t natore that, tbouffc
*n from Oauiaeo. exDianatqry
f the aTan|eliata.--Bxamplaa
Kloffieidf Matthew fod Lake.
CHAPTER V.
poatlea. which do not aD>
* ;ti<iointhetitle
led oo the neiii«
theeroaa.
wai aoipended on the eroaa.
. eame.to paaa in thoM dam
I ahonlfl be taxed, ^i^d thia
?.M
III.
dei
p. the oiueetion Tonndfd nnio
III. 7. raoommend* lelhog \iea
■ coDfttUtioo.— Hia a«ert|0Q
Jenioaatrated.--Hw afaertloa
aaaertion that Pnul nlled the
Ihii calumojr.— Hia aaaertioM
ijtrivatelraanaaiof^tM. Tfca
Ling that Chnatianity bad its
soeea were the onffinatora of
CHAPTER VI.
APPENDIX.
Surkk^ eooAitittioQ of Hone^a arfuneot on eyidenoe
aoc
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X PREPACK
ingB of his own heart, for he himself in early life waa a Deiat, from
principle. Led aatray by the aophisma of Volney and Paine» with-
out demanding proofs, or aeeking for objections, he jumped at the con-
clusion that Religion was a fraud contrired to govern mankind, and
his own experience taught him, that while one bulwark of Infidelity
remains, the ignorant and the Vicious will take refuge there, and
boast that that which is undestroyed is invulnerable. Anxiously, how-
ever, as he desired to see such a work undertaken by some able hand,
he himself, under a sense of inability to do justice to so important a
subject, would never have attempted the task, had not the dealings of
Divine providence, in his estimation, plainly indicated that he should
embark in the undertaking.
The reader will judge of the correctness of this conclusion from
the following statements: During the winter of 1839 — ^'40, while
upon a tour in the south, as an agent for a literary Institution, the
writer visited Columbus, Mississippi, at that period the residence of a
very artful and violent enemy of Christianity, Mr. C. G. Olmsted,
author of a work entitled ** The Bible its own Refutation ;" who, by
his easy manners and gentlemanly bearing, had so ingratiated himself
with many of the citizens of the place, especially with the young
men, as to exercise a most pernicious influence, by the. dissemination
of his Infidel principles. Indeed he had not only cheated many into the
belief that the Bible is an imposture upon the credulity of mankind,
but he had succeeded, to a considerable extent, in making the impres-
sion, that so conscious were the ministers of the Gospel of the weak-
ness of their cause that no one of any intelligence would dare, with
him, pubjicly to discuss the claims of the Bible as a Revelation from
heaven.
This being the state of affairs, fropa a sense of duty, the writer deter-
mined, for the benefit of the young men of the place, to deliver a series
of discourses upon the nature and tendencies of Infidelity ; and another
upon the evidences of Christianity. While the former was in pro-
gress he received from a committee of Infidel gendemen, and with
Uie sanction of Mr. Olmsted, a written challenge, with their champion
publicly to discuss the following questions : Were the writers of the
different books of the Bible inspired men ? Did the facts which they
detail occur ? Was Jesus Christ miraculously begotten? Did he per-
form miracles t Did he rise from the dead ! Believing that to de-
cline the proposed discussion, would prove prejudicial to the inter-
ests of Christianity, by the advice of religious friends, the challenge
was accepted. The writer, however, was careful to put off the time
of the debate so as to have sufficient opportunity to prepare for the
conflict. Meanwhile, being far from the necessary facilities, he ap-
prized certain friends in Great Britain of what was pending, who im-
mediately procured and forwarded to him every necessary aid.
Fifteen months after the passage of the challenge, the discussion
took place, which was continued for nearly three weeks.* At its close
* For an acoonnt of the doboto tse the preceding pages.
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FKVACE. zi
line writer reeehred bom a nanber of the meet inteeBtU and intelli*
gent gentlemen of the place the following letter :—
Columbui, Mu. May h 1B4L
Bbt. Jakm Smith,
Dear Sir— The undersigned having heard the arguoMnta adTanced
by yon to pieve the genuineness, credibility, and inspiration of the
Bible, during the lale discussion between younelf and C. G. Olmsted,
Esq., and b^ieTing many of youf arguments, especially those in favor
of the credibiliiy and inspiration of Sie Old Testament, to be entirely
new in this country, and such as we heard to be most conclusive and
triumphant ; and further, believing that their publication would do
much to arrest the poisonous and destructive influence of Infidelity,
and be calculated to promote Christianity and true patriotism, we re-
spectTuUy requeel you to give them to the public, together with your
other arguments, which were not delivered, so soon as you can, oon-
•istently with the difficulty and importance of the task*
KespectfuUy, iic
D. LiPscoHB, IL D., ^
Ghas. Nobth,
Wm. Dowbino,
8. D. Bibb,
Jab. W. Fibld,
K. W. Tatb,
W. Spdxiian, M. D
Jab. H. Soothall.
.Meiiibt.fl£tbs
^Method. Ch.
Wm. a. SMrni, Min. M. C.
R. T. Brown Rioo, Mem. E. C.
R.M. JoNis, M.D.
P. M. Grant.
Jamsb H. Smith.
I. Shook, Pastor C. P. Church*
C. C. Preston.
W. C. WORRRLL.
Upon the reception of this letter the writer determined, provided a
sufficient patronage should be obtained, to view this as an indication,
that it was his duty to prepare a work of the nature already specified.
A list of subscribers, fer exceeding his most Banguine expectations,
having been procured, the result of his labors is now before the
reader.
The main object of the work being to meet the wants of those com-
munities, where the pernicious influence of the writings of the Infi-
dels already mentioned, is felt ; and well knowing that a chief reason
why the many able treatises on the Christian evidences already before
&e public are seldom read, except by Christians themselves, or those
ond^ their immediate influence, is, that by many of the sceptical
they are viewed as designed solely to present the Christian side of
the question in the fairest light possible ; while no proper attention is
paid to the arguments of the adversaries. To draw the attention of
such to the study of a subject involving their eternal destinies, and, if
possible, thoroughly to convince them that Christianity has nothing to
fear from the attacks of its enemies ; also that the Christian might
be enabled properly to understand the nature of the very contradicto-
ry positbns of the adversaries, and that he might be supplied with a
weapon of defence to aid in repelling their attacks ; the leading ob-
jeetions of the diflerent classes of Infidels, with the proob by which
they attempt to sustain their positioDS, have been Curly transcribed
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xii FRBFACB.
from their wMks, Mdi of which has been duly wmghedttndt m it be-
lieved by the writer, satisfactorily oonfuted.
The yeiy nature of the work precludes all pretensions to original-
ity, and the writer has not scrupled, when necessary, to call to his aid
many of the abler guides who have gone before him in the same path ;
being careful, however, in everything important to give credit where
it is due. If the work have any claun, it is upon the score of labor
and research ; and the writer flatters himself that he has flM^itated
to the common reader, the study of the evidences of the truth of Re*
velation, by collecting together from the writings of rare and learned
authors, a large amount of apposite information, which otherwise
could not have been obtained, but by the perusal of many vduminoue
works, and some of them not to be procured in this country.
The writer is conscious that the work is far from being free of im*
perfections : many no doubt will be discerned by those who examine
il with a critic's eye; yet he trusts whatever its imperfections may
be, he has cleariy shown that the bulwarks of Revelation are imper-
vious by all the weapons of the most skillful and subtle of its ene-
mies ; and any sujpgestions that may be made, calculated to improve
the usefulness of rature editions, will be thankfully received by him.
The present edition is very limited, not sufficient to supply a tithe
of the subscribers already prociored. Another will be issued immedi-
ately ; in the appendix of which, will be inserted a few objections of
minor importance, and answers to them, which were overiooked, un-
til it was too late to insert them in this. A few t3rpographi<^ errors
have also escaped observation, which will hereaf^r iS corrected, but
tiiey are of such a nature, that it is believed the intelligent reader will
reaoily correct them* It may be well also here to remark, that cita-
tions from other authors are marked as such, only at their beginning
and dose, where the proper credit is given ; should any serious dis-
advantage arise from this, the evil will be remedied in the next
edition. ' JAMES SMITH.
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THE
CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE.
CHAPTER I.
GJLBDIBILITT AND AMTIiimTY OF THS OLD TESTAMENT SCIIPTURBS.
To the Jew8» the nations of the earth are indebted for a number
of tracts, which, collectively, they call the Bible; that is, by way of
eminence, the Book. This book claims to be a Divine Revelation :
Ihat is, a discovery, by God, to man, of himself, or his will, over and
above what he has made known by the light of nature, or reason.
Who are the Jews, who claim to be the repositories of that book,
which, if its claims be well founded, is, to mankind, above all price ?
In answering such an enquiry concerning any nation, or people,
Ihe practice is, to trace their pedigree ; when this is done, the que»-
tion, who are these people? is supposed to be. answered. Tacitus
^d this concenung the ancient Germans, and Gibboi^ 4^the same
concerning the Snevi, and other barbarous tribes, who contdbui^d to
tiie downfall o( imperial Rome. . '
Taylor, one of the most celebrated Infidels of the present day,
maintains that there never was a Jewish nation ; but, that the Jews
are merely an order of Free Masons. In one of his impious works
he holds the following language : — ** The Hebrews, the Jewish nor
tion^ you have been taught to believe the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, — a national and political people, such as the
French, Dutch, Poles, Russians— a people that had once a political
constitution. It will do /or a lecture on the evidences of the Chris-
tian religion; but it would not do to abide the question, toAere?
what monument of past existence? in what document, line, word, or
▼estige of history, by which alone we can know any thing of what
has been going on in the world before we came into it, have, we a
Tcstige of the existence of a Hebreto nation f That question can
A 1
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2 CREDIBILTTY AND ANTIQUITY OP
be answered only in the most ' decisive, the most unequivocal nega-
tion that ever truth threw up, in solution of any enquiry whatever."
Again, "it is a matter worthy of your' attention, to carry home the
correction of the general error, which supposes that there ever was
a Hebrew nation, or a temporal kingdom of Jews, Israelites, or
Christians. These being, not political, or national, but entirely mys-
tical and masonic terms."*
To attempt a labored argument to prove the absurdity of the Infi-
del assertion quoted above is unnecessary. .Suffice it, therefore, to
say, that if any reliance can be placed in the past history of the na-
tions of the earth, nothing is more easy than to trace the Jews back
to a province of the Roman empire, which provoked the hostility
of the emperors Vespasian and Titus, and the capital city of which
was d^troyed with a terrible slaughter of the inhabitants. The
survivors were scattered abroad, among the various nations of the
earth ; and the Jews, who are to be found in all countries, making
any pretensions to civilization, are the descendants of these refugees.
For a series of years previous to their dispersion from Judea, these
people were tributary to the Romans.' The history of the Mace-
donian conqueror enables us to trace the origin of thei Jews still far-
ther back ; and we find that in the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia,
diey were brought from Babylon unto Judea, where they settled
and built the city of Jerusalem. Thus far there is no room for de-
nial, or doubt, by any enquirer, who possesses even a superficial
knowledge of the history of the world *, but beyond ihis the scrip-
tural account is denied by most Infidels. This subject will be noticed
in its proper place.
The Jews of the present day possess and revere a remarkable col-
lection of tracts, which they say were given to their forefathers by the
immediate inspiration of Almighty God. These books relate to a Va-
riety of stupendous miracles, and the Jews, as a liation, believe at this
moment, that a generation of their ancestors beheld the performance
of the miracles, and therefore handed down these books, as genuine
and authentic. That this is the present opinion of the nation may be
learned firom any Intelligent Jew, wherever you may find him, under
the whole heaven. We know, say they, that God spake to Moses
and the prophets. The important question is, is this statement
tmet The Jew and the Christian maintain the affirmative, while
the Infidel holds that the statement is false. How is the truth to be
• T^loPs Pulpit, vol it page M7; also, page S5((.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBEa f
leadied ? By ritdog in examinrition upon the credibility of the wri*
ten of the tracts in question ! or, by sitting in examination upon
the substance of the professed dirine communications contained in
them!
The last method forms a great part of that argument for the truth
of divine reveiation which comes under the head of its internal ev
ideneet ; and the point of enquiry is, whether the communications
be consistent with the character of God, and his attributes. Here
an insuperable difficulty presents itself, for of the invisible Ood we
have no experience whatever, never having had any direct and per-
sonal observation of him, or of his counsels. . He stands at such a
distance- ^m us, and we are so ignorant of his character, that it is
impossible for us to decide concerning the kind of communication
that should proceed from him.* This objection does not apply to
Ae first topic of examination ; for the writers of the tracts in ques-
tion, whoever they were, were beings like ourselves, and we can
apply our safe and certain experience of man to their condn^ and
testimony, and we know .enough of man to pronounce upon the
credibility of their statements. Had they the manner and physiog*
nomy of honest men T Did they exhibit any special marks of their
office as teachers from God? Were these marks such as none but
God could give ; and none but his approved servants could obtain ?
And were these maxka of such a character as to leave no suspicion
of deceit behind them f We feel our competency to take up and
decide upon such questions ; and upon their solution, the question of
the truth of Revelation is rested.
Men are in danger of making this a question of sentiment, instead
of a question of pure truth. One class of men, anxious to give every
support and stability to a system which they conceive to be most in-
timately connected with the dearest hopes and wishes of humanity,
may feel disposed to overrate its evidences. Another class of men
view the claims of Revelation as superstitious folly, and they feel that
they are descending, when tiiey bring tiieir attention to a subject which
engrosses so much respect and admiration from the vulgar; thereby
tiiey are disqualified, properly, to investigate its evidences. There-
* Let it not be nipposed firom theabore Temaiks, that the author would diqwv
age the internal eridencee of the troth of Revelation. They form a most important
brandi of the argument, but which can be properly appredjUed, only by the reb
generatei Christian, who, by the teachings of the Spirit, has been brought to a
knowledge of Ood, and hia attributes, and without which teachinffs man can have
no better knowledge of the moral character of Uie invisible God, than the man
who is bom blind can have of the colon oS the rainbow.
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4 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
fore, to reach the truth in this inrestigation, if possible, all reference
to religion must be laid as^de; and the question must be viewed
purely as one of erudition. The exercises of the understanding must
be separated from the tendencies of the fancy, or of the heart ; the
light of evidence must be followed, though it lead to condusions the
most painful and melancholy; the mind must be trained to the har-
dihood of abstract and unfeeling intelligence. Every thing must be
given up to the supremacy of argument, and the tenderest preposses-
sions must be renounced, the moment that truth demands the sacri-
fice. If the investigation be entered upon with a prejudice against
Revelation, the effect must be» that that prejudice must dispose to
annex suspicion to ihe testimony of^ the writers of the tracts in
question. When the investigation is entered upon with prejudice
on the side of Revelation^ the effect must be unfavorable upon that
miAd which is all scrupulous about the reqtikde of its opinions.
The very anxiety felt for the truth dispofses to an overrating of the
cuxmmstances which gives a bias to the understanding; and through
the whole prdcess of the enquiry a suspicion, and embarrassment are
felt, which would not have been felt had it been a question of or-
dinary erudition. • Therefore, to form a just and impartial estimate
of the books in question, every bias of the understanding should be
carefully guarded against A disposition to overrate, or to underrate
the argument, is an unfair tendency of the. mind; and the- conse-
quence of all imch tendencies is 'to prevent those under their influ-
ence from viewing the truth in a true light. AH that is desired is,
that the arguments which are held decisive in other historical quea>
tions, should not be held as nugatory, when applied to the investiga-
tion of those facts which are connected with the truth of Revela-
tion ; that every prepossession for, or against, should be swept away,
that so, the understanding may expatiate without fear, and without
incumbrance.*
. These remarks open the way for the examination of the credibili-
ty of the tracts which constitute the Old Testament. When the
first of the tracts in question is opened, the first sentence in it, con-
tains a statement of the most important character, viz: that there
exists a most powerful and wise Being, by whom the heavens and
the earth were created. The Infidel upon this passage 'founds an
objection against the credibility of the writers of the books of the
Old Testament, on the ground that they represent that Being as
* See Dr. Chalmer'8 Principles of Theological EvideDoes.
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THE OLD.TEOTAMENT BCRIPTURES. 5
an infinite self^xurtent Spirit And man, being merely material, can
fonn no conception of a spirit, which in reality can have no exist-
ence; for "that which is immaterial is NorniNe." Mr. Olmsted sayv,
"The ministen of the 'Gospel can give no better definition of the
term tpiritf than the wildest savage of onr forests." Again, he
says, ** Out great anxiety should be to ascertain what daties man
owes to himself; that is, what mode of life he should pnrsae, and
what regimen practice for the preservation of his bodily and cerebral
organs in their full vigor." Again, he says, "I do not like the
half Christian phrenologists, who whip the devil round the stump, by
making the brain a piano, and the mind a litde sprite of a hopping-
jay, hopping from key to key !" It is evident that the author of
these quotations views man as a mere animal, that he is merely or-
ganized matter t and although Infidels seldom publicly avow such a
sentiment, nevertheless, thek system is founded in atheism, and im-
plies the non-existence of Spirit.
The author quoted from, above, says : " That a great majority of
Christians are under the impression, that to admit the existence of a
God, is to admit the truth of their allegations respecting him, found
in the volume called the Bibl^." To, this it is replied, that it may
be proved, or allowed, that there is a God : and yet it may be denied
tfiat he ever sent any message to man, through men, or other interme-
diate agencies. But if man be merely a piece of organized matter,
and if it be impossible for him to conceive of the existence of spmrr,
it follows, that by no means can he attdn to the knowledge of God,
who is an infimte Spirit ; therefore, that book which treats of such a
Being, and his ways, cannot be true. If. man be a mere animal, des-
titute of an intelligent spirit, he cannot be the subject of a revelation
from the infinite Spirit, even if such spirit exist, which the atheisti-
cal writer above quoted evidently denies ; therefore, the Bible must be
a fiction, and destitute of any solid basis on which to rest its claims*
Therefore, it is important at this stage of the dbcussion, to settle
these questions. 1st. What is man! 2nd. Does there exist an infi-
nite and self-existent Spirit, called, by us, God!
Mr. Olmsted says, <«Most, if not all, the advocates of Christianity,
in ^ir attempts to establish its truth, conunence by proving there is
a God — ^then they infer his attributes, and then they assert, and en-
deavor to show, firom what they are pleased to call a chain of logical
reasoning, founded on these attributes of k God who, they also tell
you, is inscrutable, and whose ways are past finding out, that he
ought to have communicated his wiH to mankind in words." <'Hav-
a2 '
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6 CREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUITY OF
ing thas iietded satisfactorily, to' themselves, what €rod ought to do^
they conclude he has done it ." Again, •« It is syllogistically argued
that the notion of a God is in the world, — ^that such notion would
never have entered it, but through a revelation ; the Bible gives such
a revelation, therefore the Bible is true." These stittemeiits are most
shameful misrepresentations of the positions, of << the advocates of
Christianity." It is true, that they hold, and on the princij^es of
sound reason, that a knowle<}ge of the mortal attributes of God could
not be attained by man but by a direct revelation from God himself:
they further hold, that the works of creation constitute a revelation
of the being, the wisdom and the power of God. They hold that
the first principle of natural religion is the eiistenoe of God. They^
further hold, that a divine revelation does not |>rot;e his • existence,
but that this is done by the universal consent of all iiations, and by
the works of creation, especially the existence of mind, or spirit, in '
man demonstrates Ihis truth. The Bible does not reveal that there is
a God, but it goes upon the supposition that there is one, and it de-
clares that JehoVah is the only true and living God. The question
at issue between the Christian anci the Deist is-^is that declaration
true?
The questions at issue be^een the Christian and Atheist are, 1st.
Does man possess mind or spirit? and, 2d. Is there such a being as
an infinite^ adf-exiaterU Spirit ? If the Infidel succeed m proving the
non-existence of spirit in man; or that no infinite Spirit exists, the
controversy is at an end, and the Bible is proved to be an impositiop
upoo the credulity of mankind. But if the advocate of Revelation
succeed in establishing the truth of his positions, th^t man possesses
tptrit, and that there is a God, who is an infinite and uncreated
Sphut, then the way is open to examine the question — are die
declarations that JEHOVAH is the only true and living God ; or is
the Bible a revelation of him and of bis will, supported by suffi-
cient testimony ?
SECTION n.
Does man possess mind or spirit, and is the mind immaterial!
The materialist can view man in no other light than the highest order
of animals, or, an animal giAed with reason. If this view of man be
correct, with equal propriety it may be said, that an animal is man
without reason, and that those plants which seem to form a transition
from the vegetable to the animal kingdom, are animals without sensa*
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THB OLD TESTAMENT 8CHIPTURES. 7
^n. It is trae that man has, physically, many things in common
with the ammal, yet he. differs whoUy from it; he is no more a mere
contiimation of the animal, than the animal is a mere continuation of
tbe vegetable, the difference is perceptible both physically and men-
tally.
Man has the same physical functions that the animal has, bnt they
are more perfect and more delicate; The body of the animal is
either covered Wi& scales or feathers, with, fur, wool or bristles. All
of these approach more or less nearly to the nature of vegetables*
These insensible substances, intc^rposed between the skin and the ele-
ments that surround and affect living beings, deprive animals of the
more tender and delicate sensations, at the same time that, like con-
ductors, they preserve them from the inclemency of the seasons.
The body of man is covered with a thin, highly sensitive and beauti-
M skin, which is not concealed under a vegetable and lifeless veil*
but unveOed exhibits the presence of the blood, the pulsations of the
heart, and the utterance of animation over the whole body. Beauty
and spirit are shed over the face of man; he has not claws, but hands,
which are susceptible of many different positions, by which he han-
dles the chisel, which pours life and beauty over the hard, cold mar^
bie; the pencil, which. animates the canvas; the instrument, from
which he draws [forth sweet music ; and the iron, from which he
forms the weapons denied him by nature. His body is so formed,
that he must walk upriffbt; his legs are much longer than his arms ;
his knees bend forward ; his eyes zxe in frpnt, and not at the sides ;
liiB ligaments of the neck are weak, and not capable of supporting the
head when hanging down ; the arms are at a great distance from
each other, and the chest is broad and full. A horizontal position
would drive the blood into the head with such violence that stupor
would ensue. Man can turn his head from the earth to the sky, from
the right to the lef^ so that he can view, not only the crawling insect
beneath his feet, but the millions of stars above his head. The face
of man is strikingly superior to that of the animal ; with the latter the
mouth is the most prominent part, but with the former the upper part
of &e face. The mouth of the animal serves only ph3rsical purposes ;
but the mouth of man serves not only the body but the mind. Ac-
cording to Haller's calculation, the muscles of the human mouth are
so movable, that it may pronounce, in one moment, ^iieen hundred
letters. The animal is directed to its food by instinct, by constitu-
tion and appetite, as the magnet to the pole ; but man selects his food
from all the kingdoms of nature, and he prepares it by fire.
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S OKEDIBILmr AND ANTIQUITY OF
The psychological difference between man and the animsji is most
striking. The animal has, in common with man, sensation and per*
oeption. Sensation signifies an internal motion or activity produced
, in a sensitive organ by something external. The organ can be seen
externally, but the internal activity, or motion, cannot be obsOTved ; it
can codybe felt Although the - animal, in common with man, has
sensation, there is this difierence; in the animal, one sense prevails
over all the others, and thes& are subservient to it. In the eagle,, the
eye predominaties. This one sense always has reference to the means
of subsistence which the animal s^ks under its guidance, so that
while it may b» extremely acute, and successful, in finding its prey,
it may be dull and stupid in respect to other objects, of which man
receives the most accurate sensations through the same sense. As
<me sei\se prevails in animals, the others are found less active. The
lion, for instance, has an excellent scent, but his sight is weak. The
animal, therefore, is under the dominion of one ^ense, while the
harmonious and equal strength of a^' the senses, place man above
them, and makes him master of them all. Which of the senses pre-
vails in the animal, depends upon the species to which it belongs,
but wherever one sense ^predominates, the others must subserve,
and be directed by it. In man, no sense being mofe acute than an-
other, n(me reigns, but all are co-ordinate with each other, and sub-
ordinate to the under9tanding. The animal possesses a serUimt
Kftf man an intelligent nature; hence when infuriated animals no
longer distinguish one object from another, but trample under their
foet every thing that opposes their course, we do not say they are
insane, but mad. **
Perception is more than sensation. The latter is in contact with
the object by which it is called forth, and consequently is dependent
on it. The sensatioii of hearing cannot be without the vibration of
the air ; that of seeing cannot be without the presence of light. Sight
and light, hearing and sound, cannot be the one without the other.
Without the eye there would be eternal night ; without light the eye
could not see. If there were no eat, the winds might blow, and the
thunders roar, but to us all nature would be silent 2^ the grave.
Man cannot avoid admitting a sensation when the, element that excites
it acts upon the organl As we cannot h^ve a sensation of light un-
less it falls upon the eye, so we must have it when ^e eye is affected
by it We cannot taste salt until it is brought in contact with the
tongue, but when it is brought in contact with it, we must have such
a sensation as its specific nature is capable of exciting. In sensation.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIPTURE& f
dierefore, we depend wholly on the presence of extenial object!, and
«re detennined by them; bat after we have once had a aensation of
them, we may have perceptions 6f the objects^ of sensation, and
these perceptions ate possibly without the objects of sensation. This
is evident from the fact that one who in the latter part of his life be-
comes blind, jnay have percepti9ns of all the objects be ever saw*
Yet perceptions are uqpossible without previous sensations, for one
bom bHnd ca];i have no perception of color, or form. Again, sensa-
tion always exists in an organ, perception does not. When you
hear a fine melody for the first time, you have a sensation of it, bat
when afterwards, without hearing it, it floats in your mind, you have
ft perception of it When yoti experiepce hunger, you have a per-
ception of food, though it may not be {(resent. The animal has pCT»*
oeptioQ as well as man. The dog dreams, and in his. dream he pur-
sues his prey. When he is near his master he has a sensation of
him by scent or sight ; but When seeking him for days in succession^
^he has only a perception of him. The animal is confined within the
sfhere of sensation and perception, and as its sensaticms are confined
within its natural wapts, so must be its perceptions. The perceptions
of man are as much mOre numerous and acute, as his sensations are
much ;nore nijmetous and acute. But he has, in addition to sens»f
lions and perceptions, a faculty that the animal has not, which may be
termed ajgperception.
, As the animal is separated from the plant by sensation, so man is
devated above the animal by apperception. Perception and apper-
ception differ widely. The objects of perception are always such as
are single, and met with in a certain place and time. The ea^e that
builds his nest on a high rock, has no idea of the nature of the stone
on which his n^t is built, nor of the region in which it stands, but
he carries with him the image of this rock, as it stands in a particular
place, and noticing no semblance between it and other rocks, he
would find it .among thousands of others ; its peculiar features being
strongly and solely impressed upon his eye. The objects of apper-
ception are the kinds, the species, and the' individuals of things. It
is by apperception that man distinguishes between his perceptions and
the objects perceived ; and, again, that he classifies nature and its pro-
ductions; thus, when he distinguishes betwe^ apples and peaches.
This the animal cannot do ; it sees the grass, but it cannot arrange it
according to its botanical classes. The dog wiU pursue the rabbit,
and it may seem that he doies so because he knows this dass of
animals, and distinguishes between it and others; but the truth is,
2 ^
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10 CRBBIBILITY AND ANTIQinTT OF
that all rabbits being exactly alike in size, and form, and scent, will
produce the iomt »tn$at%oru in the dog, and these' will always aet
him in motion. This, then, is the broad difference between man
and the animal ; the former can reason, the latter cannot jf it lives, but
it acquirei no experience j it eats its daily food, but never knows
what this fo.od is. Some, indeed, have gone so far as to say, that
animals not only judge, but draw concluaions firoin cause to effect
To draw conclusions, is the- highest power of human reason, and
if animals could do thisr they could think and will like man, and
have apperceptions like him. Those who jnaintain' this assertion,
cannot know what it is to think, or to understand, or to judge,
and draw concluaioni^. Animals have no idea of power, of capacity,
of beauty, or of truth ; consequendy they have none of cause and^
effect: these are not visible, or accessible to the senses, but only to
thought, which it cannot be proved animala possess. Man arrives %t
conclusions by the fdlowing process: he has three thoughts, each
differs from the other, and each is induded within a certain limit
But while all differ, one }» capable of uniting the two others, and
of removing this difference ; thus, two thoughts are reduced to one
class by a third one uniting them. How superior, then, is man to
the animal, which can neither judge, nor draw conclusions ! *
If that in man which thinka, be nlatter, or any modification or
combination of it, the question arises, what produced it? Every one
knows there is a great difference between matter and mind, and all the
materialists upon earth cannot produce a solitary instance in which
the combination of certain elements' produces something quite diffei^
ent, not only from each of the simple ingredients, but also from the
whole compound. Lord Brougham, treating on this subject, says,
«< We can, by minting an add and an alkali, form a third body, having
the qualities of neither,- and possessing qualities of its own different
from the properties of each. But iiere the third body consists of the
other two in ^combination. TheSe are not two thing»— two different
existences, — the neutral salt, composed of the acid and the alkali,
and another thing different from ^e neqtral salt, and engendered for
the first time by that salt, coming into existence. So when by chis-
eling^ " tiie marble, softened mto life, grows warm," we have the mar-
ble new-moulded, and endowed with the power of agreeably affect-
ing our senses, our memory, and our fancy ; but it is all the while
the marble instead of the amorphous mass, and we have not beside
* See Rauoh.
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THE OLD TESTABIENT SCRIPTURES. 11
&e maible a neW existence created by tke fonn which has been given
to the stone. But the materialists have to maintain that, by matter
being arranged in a partibnlar way, there is produced both the organ-
ized body, and something different from it, and having not any of
its properties, neither dimensions, nor weight, nor color, nor form.
They haVe to maintun that the chemist who mixed, the aquafortis and
potash, produced both nitre and something different from the tiuree,
and which began to exist the instant that the nitre cr3rstalized ; and
that th^ sculptor who fashioned the Apollo, not only made the maible
into a boman figure, but called into being sometfainjr difierent from
the maible, and the statue, and which exists at the same time widi
both, and without one property of either. If, therefore, their theory
be trae, it must be admitted to rest on nothing which experience has
ever taught us ; it Supposes operations to be performed, and relations
Id exist of which we see nothing that bears the least resemblance in
any thing we know." *
. Experience teaches us that the doctrine of the materialist is utteriy
fidse. That the mind exists, and wfiolly independent of the qualities
of matter, we have compile emSenee; the evidence of its existence is
as strong as the evidence of the existence of matter, and ^ steps by
which we arrive at the conclusion are similar. Why do we believe
^mt matter exists! Because it produces a certain impiession upon
our senses : U produces a certain effed^zad we justly argue that this
effect must have a cause. How do we know that mind exists ? By
oar consciousness of what passes within* us; the consciousness
4iat we are aendent and thinking beings, impUes the existence of ihe
mind which thinks, hence, the propriety of that pithy saying of Des-
cartes **Iihinkf therrfore lamJ*] This knowledge does dot depend
upon matter ; we do not obtain k by the exercise of any of the senses^
and its olject has no resemblance to matter. Wa know that matter
exists, only by the operations of mind; and did we doubt the exist-
ence of either, it would be fully as reasonable to doubt of the exist-
ence of matter, as of mind. The existence and operatioQS of mind,
account for all the phenomena which mind is supposed to exhibit;
but the existence aiid action of matter, cannot account for one of the
phenomena of mind. When we are dreaming, we believe as firmly in
the reality of those phantoms which imagination conjures up, as in
<iar waking hours we believe in the sensible objects around us. But
Brougham's Natand Theology.
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18 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
no effect of material agency eter produced a spiritual existence, or
engendered the belief of such an ejtistence..
That the mind, that which thinks, of wh6se existence we are con-
tinually conscious ; that which' cannot but exist while we exist; that
which can make its own operations, the objects of its own thoughts;
that this thing, or being, should have no existence, is an impossibility,
or. contradiction in terms. Then we have the most clear and irrefraga-
Ue proof that mind, or spirit, does exist ; and the argument to prove
that it is altogether different from matter maybe presented thus.
The mind or spirit in man, is not material on account of the absence
of the essential properties which belong to matter; it is not material
on account of the possession of those properties, or qualities, which
are not found in matter, necessarily, Or under all circumstances, and
which cannot belong .to it ^MscidentaUy, because in their very nature
they are consisteiit with some of those properties which we know
necessarily belong to matter. That there are such things as acciden-
tal properties belonging io all bodies, is true. Such are those which
relate purely to the mode. of being, in contradistinction to the essence
of being. But that thought, or volition, cannot be an accidental pro-
perty of matter, or the result of its mere mode of being, is most
clearly demonstrated thus. - One of the essential properties of matter
if divisibility, and it cannot possibly be the subject of any other pro-
perty inconsistent with this, any more than a thing can be and not be
at the same tinle. But, that alhought, or volition, is indivisible, all
intelligent persons do at once as clearly perceive, as that divisibility
is an essential property of matter. The concldsiofi, therefore, is ir-
resistable, that thought, or volition, cannot be the accidental proper-
ties, or result of- any modification of matter whatever, because it is
inconsistent with divisibility, one of the essential properties of mat-
ter. * This proposition utterly destroys the doctrine of the material-
ist, and it places under the advocate of Revelation a platform, strong
and durable, from which he may successfully repel the attacks of the
materialist, and atheist For if man possess mind, or spirit, and if
iherfi be an all-wise and omnipotent spinrr, it is not impossible foi
that glorious Being to reveal himself, and his will, to man.
* It ]b very absurd to object against the existence of spirit, that it cannot be the
object of any of the senses; for the same objection lies with equal force against the
existence of Ughi, Light cannot ^be touched, nor tasted, nor smelt, nor heard, fwr
ettn it be teen. We arrive at the knowledge of the existence of lig^t, I^ an
examination of certain visible Objects and appearances; but, light itself cannot bo
directly peroeivod by any of the i
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TBE OLD TESTAMENT 8CfiIPTnRB& 1$
We flow proceed to take up the second qnestioQ, which is« If theiro
a Crod, an aU-wwe and all-powerful Spirit ?
The theory of the Atheut is in opposition to the general bdief of
■unkind, and is held only hy a £iw thinly scattered individuals in
ciTilned nations. In all ages of the wodd, and in every stage of so-
eieQr, bdief in the existence <tf a God, has obtained. The nide hnn-
ter of the wilderness, and the polished inhabitant of the magnificent
ei^, have united in the belief of the existence of God. The great
error of mpnlund on tfns snl^ect has been, not the denial of one God,
bat the belief of ma^y. It is true, that men have Entertained Mm
notions of the n^tnre of Crod ; but stfll^ they have believed in his
existence, and the erroneous conceptions which have accompanied
this belief; instead of attaching any discredit to the truth of the asser-
tion that there is a God, tend to confirm its truth. They prove that
the enstence of God is so plainly engraven on the face of nature)
and so consentaneous to the dictates of reason, and to the unpervert*
ed feelings of the human mind, that it is readily received, even when
accompanied by absurdities.
It has. been alleged that some tribes of human beings, such as the
aboriginal inhabitants of New Holland, have been found, among
whom no traces of beUef in the existence of God was discovera-
ble. If the allegation be true, it should be borne in mind, that those
tribes are in a state of extreme degradation ; and that they are not to
be ccmsidered as denying the existence of God, but as being so bru'
Ml as to have no opinbn, or belief on the subject. Belief in the
esstenee of Deity laa the general, snfifrage of die human race ; and
diis is no slight presumption of the truth of the thing believed ; for
when mankind, in all the different circumstances in which they have
been placed, have generally agreed on any great point relating to their
egmmon interest, this agreement may fairly be interpreted as the die^
We of their nature f and consequendy may be considered as having
a rational claim to 'general reception. For this general belief in the
existence of God, there must'be an adequate cause, and that cause is
to be found in the fact that the appearances of the universe indicate
a powerful, wise, and good being, ihd Creator of all thingd. Crahts,
theaussionary, in his History of Greenland, tells us that a native of
that eoimtry once addressed him in the following manner:— «*' It is
true we were ignorant heathens, and knew little of the nature of God
fa31 you came.' But you must toot imagine that no Greenlander thmks
about these things. A kajak (a Greenland boat) with all its. taekfo .
and implements, cannot exist but by the labot of man. But the foi^
B
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14 CREDIBILITY AND ANnQUITT OP
mation of the meanest bird requires more skill than that of the best
kajak, and no^man can make a bird* There is still more skill require
ed to make a man : by whom then was he made f He proceeded
from his parents^ and they from their parents. But some must hare
been the first parents, and whence' did they proceed? Common
report says/ they grew out of the earth. If so, why do not men
grow out of the earth still! And whence came the earth, the sun,
the moon, aAd the stars? .Certainly there must have been some
Being who made all these things ; a Being more wise than the wisest
man." Su^h was the reasoning of an untutored inhabitant of the
frozen coast of Greenland, and in some such way has mankind always
reasoned.
To attribute the general belief of mankind in the existence of Dei*
ty to tradition, will not account for the fact ; because the questi<m im-
mediately occurs, what was the origin of the tradition ? Besides, no
mere tradition could have been so widely and permanently diffused;
nor could it have been preserved among all tribes of men, and amidst
all the vicissitudes of the human race. If, then, the general opinion
and belief of mankind could place any truth beyond the reach of con-
troversy, the question concerning the being of God would long ere
now have been finally determined ; for on no other subject has man-
kind been so generally agreed as on the existence of God. It is
acknowledged that diis belief has n6t been universal, for an ancient
sage hath said, «« The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.'*
It is conceded that the general belief of mankind is not of itself
decisive evidence of the truth of the thing believed. But, even as
evidence, it should not hastily be dismissed from ^ mind, unless
the causes of general error can be pointed out in a dear and satisfac-
Uxtj manner. But if mankind have been brought to the conclusion
that there is a God,4)y the appear^nees of the universe ; and if these
appearances, when cahid^y and rationally contemplated, justify the
conclusion, then the opinion which it establishes is entitled to a cor-
dial receptipn by every candid and sincere inquirer, after truth.
The theory of the Atheist is unwarrantable, for by it the existence
of the world cannot be accounted for. We behold the heavens and
die earth replete with myriads of creatur&i. If there be no God,
then not only matter, but die ^prld, is eternal; that is, all things now
are, in the main, as they ever were, without a first cause : or the
matter is eternal and of itself, and the beautiful and immense frame
of the. heavens and the earth wascansed by a fortuitous concoone of
iBikuaierabfe atoms.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 15
That all things now are» in the main, as theyever were, is ineredi^
ble; ibr if this hypothesis he correct, the whole system of things as
we now see it, must have existed fh>m eternity ; either all is eternal,
or we have no reason to conclude that any part is so. But how can
the human ^race he eternal ? Mr. Fergus, on this subj^t says, ** I
exist, but I do not necessarily exist, for once I was not. I did not
bring myself into existence. My parents were not their own crea^
ton; and although I go back as far as the wing of imagination can
bear me, still I am as unable satisfactorily to account for the existence
of those whom I then find alive, as I am to account for my own exist-
ence, or ibr the existence of those who have lived at apy intermediate
period. By going backwards I remove the difficulty firom one point
to another, but still at any given point that difficulty is just the same
' as when it first met me. According, however, to the constitution of
my nature, I cannot rest satisfied till I come either to a self-created*
or to a necessarily existing being. But a self-created being involves a
contradiction. It involves ex]3tence, and non-existence at the same
time; I must, therefore, arrive at a necessarily existing, and con-
sequently eternal being, as th^ first cause of my own existence*
Thus I think, that according to the constitution of my nature, I
must either believe in an eternal and intelligent first cause, or in
something equaDy incomprehensible, and also altogether absurd.*'
To talk of an infinite succession of beings, such as man, will not
remove the idifficulty of our first formation, but is an unphilosophical
attempt to pusK it out of sight. For, according to this hypothesis,
however high we. asc^d, we find no animated being but what has
derived its existence' from a being* of the same kind, with itself; and
although we still meet with plain hiarks of design, yet the designing
cause we have not discovered.
It has been asserted that all things sprang firom necesHty* But
necessity is not an agent, but the condition of an ftgent; and if those
who use the word in the sense tmder consideration, attach any con-
ceptions to their language, they must understand by it an agent acting
necessarily. An agent acting necessarily is merely an instrument in
the hand of another. But we are so constituted, tfadt we cannot rest
short of a being operating, not by necessity, but by will and choice.
We must find an efficient cause, that had power to give, or not to ^ve
existence to every creature. Necessi^ inust result firom something
antecedent to itself.
Some talk of appetency. What meaning do they attach to it? Is
it chemical affinity? If it be so, has chemical affinity ever formed
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tS CRtDIBIUTV AJfD ANTIQUITY OF
wa0. This' 18 a clear and decided example, how the lawf of Nature
and the properties of things arise from creation, and subsequent to it»
ai|d never form or produce it ; for the same reasoning is applicaUe to
every substance of Nature, and to all its laws and agencies.*'*
<< Th& preceding argument is, we think, irresistible. The unbdiever
may indeed say that the combination of the oxygen and hydrogen so
as to form water was owing entirdy to their affinity for each other ;
but in saying this, he abandons the original position, and destroys his
own argulnent* If it was the affinity for each other of its materials
and their consequent combination, which formed water, then it ^^sa
not produced by the laws of water ; and hence in the application the
unbeliever admits that the world or universe in its present et^te was
not produced by the laws of Naturei but was owing to the tendency
or affinity of the substances of which it is composed. We have done,
then, with that doctrine which teaches that Nature is the effisct of the
laws of Nature. The argument is now placed upon a new ground,
bdt not a less difficult one for the objector. He affirms that water is
the result of the affinity which oxygen and hydrogen have (or each
other, and which causes them to unite in its formation. Biit does he
not perceive that this only removes the . difficulty one step backward
without solving it? The inquiry now is, how came oxygen and
hydrogen to exist? or, if we mak6 a direct use of this iUjostration
again, we. ask, if the universe as it is now, was the effect of the mutual
affinity of its materials, how came these materials into being ? It will
be seen that such an answer is |io explanation of ihe phenomena; the
existence of these materials is still to be accounted for, and the task
of explanation on this point will be found no more easy than on the
other. If the unbeliever can tell us how these came to enst at the
first, he will have accomplished something,— otherwise he is yet in
*thedark."t •
But to return; where is the evidence that Natilre has formed all her
productions after.long periods of time ? Can an example be produced
of the first rudiments of organization, or a spontaneous generation ?
Has any one ever seen one of ^ose rudiments in the first stage of
its progress, or .undergohijg those stages of metamorphoses through
which it passes in advancing to a more perfect fi)rm ? Can any one
tell what was its last form, and what will be its next? M«i and
animals are still what they have, always been. But a h3rpothesi8.
• Turaer's SMsned Hiatoty of the Worli ▼• ii. p. JW7-8,
f Thayer's Christianity against Infidelity.
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THE OLD TESTAKENT SCRIPTURES. 19
comtenanced bj no fact in nature, has no legitimate plaim to ibta char-
acter of philosophy, and should be dismissed as a dream*
That all things nqw afe,tin the main, as they ever were, without a
first cause, is in opposition to a universal tradition, that the world was
made. " The Egyptiaml, and Phffinicians, and Indians," says Strabo,
^^ agree with the Grecians, that the world began, and should have an
end, and that God, the maker and governor of it, is present in all parts
of it." When America was first discovered, the inhabitant^ of St
Domingo, and also those of Peru, believed in one' chief God, under
the title of the Maker of t^ie Universe. Tully says, in Ids work on
the nature of the gods ; << Thales ivas the ^t of all die philoaphers
* that inquired into these things, and he said that God was that mind,
or inldligent principle, which fashioned all things out of water.**
Sinbo sayst that *' the Brahmins, the chief philosophers of, India,
agreed with the Grecians in t!us» that the world was made of wat».
In die Hindoo Vedas il is said '* water was the first woriL of the
Creator." Aristode says, that '' the gods were anciendy representedt
as Swearing by the lake Styx, because water was supposed to be
the principle of all things," and he further says, that «< this was the
most ancient opinion of the origin of the world," and that ** those who
lived at the greatest distance from his time were of this mind." Maxi*
mus Tyrius, in. his dissertation, says, <<Men may differ about other
things, yet they all agree in this principle, that there is one Grod,
King aiMi Father of all things. This the Gre^ say, this ihe Brah-
mins, thjs those diat live upon the continent, and those that dwell by
the 8e»-^the wise and the unwise."
If the world, and consequend^T mankind, had a beginning, there is
every reason to expect that there should be a universal tradition com
ceming diat which was the Ynost remarkable which could be transmit*
ted to mankind. But if the world was eternal, and had no beginning,
diere could be no ground for such a tradition; and if at any period an
attempt were made to set any such a tradition on foot, it would be
extremely difficult >o induce any number of men to believe it, and
still more difficult to have it universally propagated. For if the theo-
ry of Aristotle, that the world was from eternity, and always existed, as
it now is, be true, there would be no common head from whence such
a tradition could spring. Lucretius, the celebrated Epicurean, says,
<* If the worid had no beginning, how is it that the Greek poets men*
lioii nothing higher than the Theban war and the destruction of Troy ?"
Had the world been eternal, learning of every description would
have been discovered, apd universally propagated, beycmd the memo-
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80 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUmr OP
ry of all ages;. but they can easily be traced to their origin; and where
learning and the arts obtain, this tradition of the beginning of tiie
world is most universally r^ceivt^ ftndi. conAdendy beliered. More-
over, "28 the .several parts o^ which this world is composed, are cor-
roptible, why is it, that during infinite dui^tion, this earth and these
heavens "have not been dissolved, especially as according to the th^
ory of the Atheist there is no God, no wise and intelligent Spirit to
repair and regulate them, apd to prevent those innumerable accidents,
disorders, and caltoities, which in so immense a space must in all
probability have befallen them?
As a convincing proof that the world was not eternal, but had a '
bejginning, Lucretius urges, that "those things which are in their
own nature corruptible, had never been able from all eternity to have
held opt against' those forcible and violent assaults, which, in infinite
duration, must have happened." And, Aristotle himself acknowl-
edges, that " all the philosophers that were before him held that the
world was made."
The second theory of the Atheist, and which was adopted by the
t^picureans, viz : that matter is eternal and of itself, and that the beau-
tiful and immense frame of the heavens and the earth was capsed by
a fortuitous concourse of innumerable atoms, is equally false and
absurd with the former. According to this theory, matter is in itself
eternal, and there is an infinite empty space containing the infinite lit-
tle parts of matter, and these being always in motion, after infinite tri-
als, without any design or disposal of an intelligent being, by a lucky
' casualty formed themselves into the earth and tUe heavens ; and the
earth, being full of vigor, brought forth men, and all sorts of' living
creatures. This theory imputes to chance an efiect which carries on
its face all the characteristics of contrivance. But will chance fit
means to ends, in myriads of instances, and not fail in one T How
often might you shake a set of letters in a bag and throw them out.,
upon the ground before they would fkll into an eloquent speech !
and may not a small pamphlet be made by chance as easily as the
vast volume of the universe T JIow long might you carelessly sprin-
kle colors on a canvas before they would chancy to make your own
picture; and is a man more easily made by chance than his picture?
How long might five thousand blind men, who should be sent out
from Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, wander up and
down before they would chance to meet in rank and file on the batde
field below New Orleans? Tet this is much more easy to be imag-
ined, than how the innumerable blind parts of matter should rendez-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBBa 31
rona themfldVes into this earth and these heavens. What opinion
would you have of me, did T assert that this church W3S nerer oon-
trived, or built by any man; that the bricks, by chance, grew into the
figures in which they now appear; that upon a time the ma|eria]s of
the building, the bricks, the stone, the mortar, th^ timber, the iron,
Ibe lead, and the glass, fortunately met togeth^, and ranged theov-
Belyes into that beautiful order, in which they are now so <4p8ely
compacted ; and that it must be a very great chance indeed that again
parts thetai ? What, I say, would you think of him who would
advance this opinion ; and what if he should write a book to prove it T
You would pronounce such an one insane. Nevertheless, it mu^t be
admitted that he would have more reason on his side than that man
has, who asserts that the earth was made by chance, and that men
grew np out of it, as men are now ; or that they were first oysters, and
by chance reached the perfection of men. The thing is, at first sight,
so absurd, that no arguments can render-its absurdity more palpably
appaient; and yet these atbtotkal madmen assume to themselves
to be the men of reason;* the philosophers of the world; the only
cautious, prudent persons, who cannot be imposed upon by *< wily
priests ;" and who must have c^iivincing evidence of eveiything, and
who will admit nothing without a mathematical demonstration. *-
The works' of creation prove ^t t&ere is a God. When we ex-
amine a watch or any other piece of machinery, we instantly per-
enve marks of design. The arrangement of its several parts, and
the adaptation of its movements to one result, show it to be a contri-
vance ; nor do we ever imagine the faculty of contriving to be in the
watch itself, but in a separate agent. If we turn from art to na-
ture, we behold a vast magazine of contrivancies'; we see innumera-
Ue objects replete with the most exquisite design, t When we view
the heavens above ; the atmosphere around us ; the air in which we
breathe, whidb compress^ our earth, and keeps it together ; the out-
spread sky bespangled with globes' of light, adorned with diose two
great luminaiies, the sun and the moob, especially the former, that
inexhaustible fountain of light and heat^ whose benign influences
spread plenty and happiness over all the earth, and cause her inhab-
itants to rejoice ; whose circuit is from one end of the heaven to the
other, ** and there is nothing hid from die heat thereof." When we
consider its magnitude, motion and influence; its proper distance
from us, not being so near as to scorch us, nor so remote as to be of
* 8ee Tillottflon'8 argument on the existence of God. ' f Foley's Evidences.
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2S CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUmr OF
no me io us. When we view this globe of the earth hanging on noth-
ing, like a ball in the a^, poised with its own weight ; its bowels
stored with immense riches, its surface covered with inhabitants;
when we consider their shapes and uses, some for strengdi, and
some for ^wifbiess, others fbr food, and others for dothing^; the
.▼ast varieties of feathered tribes that cut the air, and the innumerable
fishefi that swim the sea; If we w^ consider our own composition;
the form of the body : while animals Took down; tnan looks above, to
behold the heavens, to lifl up his face to. the stars. When we con-
sider the organs of the senses, of sigh^ of heariog, of tasting, of
smelling, and of feelings the admirable sthictnre of the eye, the hand,
and the ear ; the various operations performed within our bodies, ma-
ny of which are performed without our knowledge or will ; the cip>
culation of the blood through all |he parts of the body, in a very
Bmall spftce of time; the respiration of the lungs, the digestion of the
food, and ihe ohylification of it; the mixing of the diyle with the
Mood; the nourishmeilt thereby oommiinicat^, and which is sensibly
perceived in every part of the body: when we consider the faculty of
speech, and its organs ; the features of our faces, and the shapes of
our bodies, all differing from each other; the constant supply of an-
imal spirits; the continuance of vital )ieat; which outlasts fire itself;
the slender threads and small fibres spread throughout the body,
which perform their office, miming fifty, sixty, or eighty years. Es-
pecially when we consider the brain, and above all, the mind, which
can receive and compare ideas ; can put them together, and compare
them with each other; can infer one thing from another and draw
conclusions from them, and reason concerning them« Do nbt all these
exhibit the most exquisite design, th6 most consummate skill and con-
trivance ! If the idea of a contrivance and a contriver be inscfparable,
and if it be evident in. regard to this earth and its inhabitants that
they themselves are not the designing agents, it is most manifest that
there is a separate and invisible being who is the former of them all.
This great being is indicated by the appellation of the Deity: and
could it even be shown that the argument ta prove that the world and
its inhabitants have not, in the main, existed as they now are from aH
eternity, is defective, still whatever is. supposed to have occasioned
this constant succession, exclusive of an intelligent cause, will never
account for the undeniable marks of design which pervade the uni-
verse; Nor is the absurdity of supposing a contrivance without a
contriver diminished by this imaginary succession, but rather increas-
ed, by being repeated at every step of the series.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURS8. ^a
BestdeSy an eternal succession of finite beings involTes in it a oon->
tradictioB, and is therefoie plainly impossible. A19 the sapposition
is made to get quit of the idea of any one having existed from eter-
nity, each of the beings in the succession must have begun in time;
> but the succession itself is eternal* . Then, we have the succession
of beings infinitely earlier than any being in the succession ; or in
other woids, a ^ries of l>eings running on, ad infinUum^ before it
reached any pKrticqlar being, which is absurd.
From these consideratioBs it is manifest there ipust be some eternal
b^ing, or nothing could ever have existed ; and since the beings ygft
behold bear in their whole struieture evident marks of wisdom and
design, it is equaliy certain th^t he who formed t)iem is a wise and
laieUigent agent. That there are not many, but only one such being,
is evident from the fact, that the notion of more than one author of
nature is inconsistent with that harpony of design which pervades
the universe. . ' *
Such are the proofs of the existence of that.great and glorious bein^
who-is denominated by us, God; and it is not presumption to say, it
is impossiUe to find another truth in the whole compass of morals
whichy according to the justest laws of reasoning, admits of such strict
and rigiyrous demonstration. If there be a Ood, an alKwise mind or
q[>irit by whom all things were created; and if man have mind or
spirit, it is not impossible for th&t great and* glorious being to reveal
himself and his will to man. Our inability to describe or conceive of
the manner in which this is done is- no just argument against it, for
^t action of the spirit of Qod upon the mmd of man, which is
denoted by the word inspiration, is not more inconceivable than the
«rdiiiary action of the human mind upon the body ; and if eveiy thing
be banished from the worid which we cannot comprehend, there
will be little or nothing leA.
SECTION n.
The Deists found an objection against the credibility of the Old
Testament Scriptures on the ground that, itf the Book of Genesis,
Theism, or the worship of tbe one G09, is represented as having
been the primary religion of mankind ; whereas, say they, the first
religion was, and necMsarily must have been, Polytheism.
Mr. Hume, reasoning upon thi? subject, says, «<It appears to me,
diat, if we consider the improvement of human itociety, firom rude
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24 -CREDIBILITY AND ANTlQXJm OP
beginnings to a state of greater perfection, polyfteitm or idolatry wa^,
and necessarily mnst have been, the first and most ancient religion of
mankind. This opinion I shall endeavor to ccmfinn by the following
arguments.
It is a matter of fact incontestible, that about 1700 years ago all
mankind were poly^ists. The doubtful and sceptical principles of
a few pliilosophers, or the theism, and that too not entirely pure, of
one or two nations, form no objection worth regarding^ Behold then
the dear testimony of history. The farther we mount up into .anti-
quity, the more do we find m^kind plunged into polytheism. . No
marks, no symptoms of any more perfect religion. The most ancient
records of the human race still present us with that system as the pop-
ular and established cceed. The north, the south, the east, the westy
give their unanimous testimony to the same faeL ' What can be op*
posed to so full an evidence !
As far as writing or history reaches, mankind, in ancient timee^.
appear universally to have been polytheists. Shall we assert, ^t,
in more ancient times, before the knowledge of letters, orthe discchr-
ery of any art or science^ men entertained the principles of pure the-
ism? That is, w)iile they were ighofaht and barbarous, they discov-
ered tiruth; but fell into error, as soon as they acquired learning
and politeness. « * .
But in this assertion you not only contradict all appearance of
probability, but a]^o our present experience concerning the principles
and opinions of barbarous nations. The savage tribes of AiaiiioAy
AFUCAt and Asu* are all idolaters — ^not a single exception to this
rule — ^insomuch, that, were a traveler to transport himself into any
unknown region ; if he found inhabitants cultivated, with arts and
science, though even upon that sttpposition there are odds against
their being theists, yet could he not safely, till farther inquiry, pro-
nounce any thing on that head. But if he found them ignorant and
baibarous, he might beforehand (declare them idolaters; and there
scarcely is a possibility of his being mistaken.
It seems certain, that, according to the natural progress of human
thought, the ignorant multitude must first entertain some grovelling
and familiar notion of superior powers, before ihey stretch their con-
ception to that perfect Being, who bestowed order on the whole frame
of nature. We may as reasonably imagine, that men inhabited pal-
aces before huts and cottages, or studied geometry before agriculture ;
as assert that the Deity appeared to them a piire spirit, onfniscient,
omnipotent, ind omni][>re8ept, before he was apprehended to be a
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURE& 25
powerful, though limited being, with human passions and appetites,
limbs and organs. The mind rises gradnallj, from inferior to supe-
rior: bj attracting from what is imperfect, it forms an idea of per-
fection : and slowly distmguishing the nobler parts of its own frame
fiom the grosser, it learns to transfer only the former, much elevated
and refined, to its divinity. Nothing could disturb this natural pro-
gress of thon^t^ but some obvious and invincible argument, which
might immediately lead the mind into the pure principles of theism,
and make it overle^, at one bound, the vast interval which is inter-
posed between the human and the divine nature. But though I allow,
tiiat the order and frame of the universe, when accurately examined,
affords such an argument; yet I can never think, that this considera-
tion could have an influence on mankind, when they formed their first
rude notions of religion.
The causes of such objects, as are quite familiar to us, never strike
our attention or curiosity ; and however extraordinary or surprising
these objects in themselves, they are passed over, by the raw and
ignorant multitude, without much examination or inquiry. Abaji,
rising at once, in paradise, and in the full perception of his faculties,
would naturally, as represented by Milton, be astonished at the glo-
rious appearances of nature, the heavens, the air, the earth, his own
organs and members ; and would be led to ask; whence this wonder-
ful scene arose T But a barbarous, necessitous animal (such as- a man
on the first origin of socie^), pressed by such numerous wants
and passions, has no leisure to admire the regular face of nature, or
make inquiries concerning the cause of those objects, to which from
his infancy he has been gradually accustomed. On the contrary, the
more regular and uniform, that is, the more perfect nature appears,
the more is he familiarized to it, and the less inclined to scrutinize
and examine it. A monstrous birth excites his curiosity, and is
deemed a prodigy. It alarms him from its novelty ; and immediate*
ly sets him a trembling, and sacrificing, and praying. But an animal,
complete in all its limbs and organs, is to him an ordinary spectacle,
and produces no religious opinion or affection. Ask him, whence
that animal arose? he will tell you, from the copulation of its parents.
And diese, whence ? From the copulation of theirs. A few removes
satisfy his curiosity, and set the objects at such a distance, that he
entirely loses sight of them. Imagine not, that he will so muclras
start the question, whence the first aninud ; much less, whence the
whole system or united fabric of tlie universe arose* Or, if you start
such a question to him, expect not, ' '^^ -^•%inv his mind
C 4
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26 CItEDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
with any anxiety about a subject, so remote, so uninteresting, and
which so much exceeds the bounds of his capacity.
But farther, if men were at first led into the belief of one supreme
Being, by reasoning from the frame of nature, they could never pos-
sibly leave that belief, in order to embrace polytheism ; but the same
principles of reason, which at first produced and diffused over man-
kind, so magnificent an opinion, must be able, with greater facility,
to preserve it. The first invention and proof of any doctrine is
much more difficult than the supporting and retaining of it.
There is a great difference between historical facts and speculative
opinions, nor is the knowledge of the one propagated in the same
manner with that of the other. An historical fact, while it passes by
oral tradition from eye-witnesses and contemporaries, is disguised in
every successive narration, and may at last retain but very small, if
any, resemblance of the original truth on which it was founded.
The frail memories of men, their love of exaggeration, their supine
carelessness ; these principles, if not corrected by books and writing,
soon pervert the a(^count of historical events ; where argument or rea-
soning has little or no place, nor can ever recall the truth, which has
once escaped those narrations. It is dius the fables of Hercules,
Theseus, Bacchus, are supposed to have been originally founded in
true history, corrupted by tradition. But with regard to speculative
opinions, the case is far otherwise. If these opinions be founded on
arguments so clear and obvious as to carry conviction with the gen-
erality of mankind, the same arguments which at first diffused the
opinions will still preserve them in their original purity. If the argu-
ments be more abstruse, and more remote from vulgar apprehension*
the opinions will always be confined to a few persons ; and as soon
as men leave the contemplation of the arguments, the opinions will
immediately be lost and be buried in oblivion. Whichever side of
this dilemma we take, it must appear impossible, that theism could,
from reasoning, have been the primary religion of the human race,
and have afterwards, by its corruption, given birth to polytheism and
to all the various superstitions of the heathen world. Reason, whea
obvious, prevents these corruptions : when abstruse, it keeps the
principles entirely from the knowledge of .the vulgar, who are alone
liable to corrupt any principle or opinion.'' *
Mr. Hume's argument does not prove that theism, or the acknowl-
edgment and worship of one God, was not the religion of the first
^ Hume't EsBays, vol iL pp. 403—406,
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIPTUREa 27
ages ; it only shows, that it was not the mere result of their own rea-
soningSy and therefore, if it obtained among them, it must hare been
owing to a divine revelation originally conmiunicated to the first men.
He supposes that it was impossible that men, in the first ages of the
world, should, if lef^ to themselves, in the circumstances they were in,
have any other religion than idolatry. But a greater absurdity can
hardly be conceived of, than for one who believes in the existence of
twise and good God, the creator of the human race, supposing that he
would place mankind in such circumstances at their first formation,
and for many ages afterwards, that they must either have no religion at
all, or a false one, so that it was. absolutely impossible for them not to
be idolators and polytheists. And the history of the ancient nations of
ibe earth, give a united testimony that their original progenitors pos-
sessed a knowledge of the one true and living Grod, who was wor-
shiped by them, and believed to be an infinite, self-existent and invisi-
Ue Spirit ; and this being established, must go far to prove that the
first parents of mankind had a knowledge of religion in its main fim-
damental principles, communicated to them by God himself, at their
first coming into the world, and to put them into a capacity for know-
ing and adoring their Creator, which it is conceded both by Mr. Hume
and the advocates of Revelation, the first men could not acquire ** by
reasoning from the works of nature."
Mr. Hume appeals to fact, and asserts that << all mankind, a very
few excepted, were idolators from the beginning, and continued so till
170O (1800) years ago, and that the farther we mount up into anti-
q[iiity, the more we find mankind plunged into idolatry ; no marks or
symptoms of a more perfect religion." If Mr. Hume intends to say
fiiat mankind, from the beginning, were absolutely without any
knowledge of the one supreme God, and this certainly is his meaning,
he is at war with himself where he says, '* There is a consent of man-
kind, almost universal, in the belief that there is an invisible, intelli-
gent power in the world." How came this general consent into the
world ? not from Revelation, for that he does not admit, nor by the
power of reason, for that he denies. And if such a general consent
of an invisible, intelligent power, obtained among mankind, how came
it to pass that from the beginning, mankind, with a very few excep-
tions, were idolators ? But his assertion is not true. Mankind were
not idolators from the beginning, but worshiped the infinite and self-
existent Spirit, and a notion of this being continued for a long time
among the idolatrous heathens themselves, and although it was greatly
obscured, it was never entirely extinguished.
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28 . CREDIBILrrY AND ANTIQUITY OP
The moflt ancient idolatry, and which probably was the first deria-
tion from the worship of the one true G^od, seems to have been the
worship of the hearenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars. , Diodoros
Siculus informs as, that <* the most ancient people of Egypt, looking
up to the world above them, and the natnre of the universe, and being
struck with astonishment and admiration, supposed the sun and moon
to be the eternal, and first or principal gods/* He aflerwards adds,
that they supposed these gods governed the world. Eusebius says,
concerning Hie Phoenicians, that the first natural philosphers among
them " looked 'upon the sun and moon, and other wandering stars, and
the elements and the things that were connected with these, to be the
only gods. Sir William Jones, treating of the Arabs, says : ** The
people of Yemen very soon fell into the common but fatal error of
adoring the sun and the firmament ; for even the third in descent from
Toktan, who was consequently as old as Nahor, took the surname of
Abdushams, or servant of the sun; and his family, we are assured,
paid particular honors to that luminary."
Treating of the Tartars, Sir W. Jones says : . «* From old Grecian
authorities we learn that the ' Massagetse worshiped the sun ; and the
narrative of an embassy from Justin to the emperor, who then resi-
ded in a fine vale near the sources of the Irtish, mentions the Tartarean
ceremony of purifying the Roman ambassadors, by conducting them
between two fires.*' The Ass3nrians and Chaldeans are supposed to
have been the first that rendered divine worship to the heavenly bodies.
Sir W. Jones on this subject sa3ns : ^< Weleam from the Dabistan, that
the popular worship of the Iranians, under Hushang, was pure Sabian,
a word of which I cannot ofier any certain etymology, but which has
been deduced by grammarians from Saba, a host, and particularly the'
host of heaven, or the celestial bodies, in the adoration of which, the
Sabian ritual is supposed to have consisted." Maimonides says, that
** the ancient Zabians filled a great part of the earth, that they held that
there is no God, besides the stars ; that they are all deities ; but that the
sun is the great or chief god ; and that the highest notion they formed
of God was, that he is the spirit or soul of the celestial orbs. In like
manner Philo Biblius, the translator of Sanconiathon's Phoenician his-
tory, says, concerning the ancient inhabitants of PhcBnicia, that << they
accounted this god, speaking of the sun, to be the only lord of heaven ;"
and thferefore he adds, they call him Baal Jamon, which, in the Phoe-
nician language, has that signification. It appears, from a passage in
Job, that in Ynp time, the worship of the heavenly bodies was practised,
but which he regarded as a great iniquity: <« If I beheld the sun when
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIFTUBE8. 20
k shined, or 4ie moon walking in brightness ; and mj heart hath been
aecretlj entieedy or my moQth kissed my hand ; iina also were an ini<«
qjaity to be punished by the judge : for I should hfiYt denied the
God which is above."*
Plato bears testimony that the anqient Greeks worshiped the hear-
enly bodies. The first inhabitants of Greece, says he, <^ appear to
me to have esteemed ikose only to be gods, as m^iy of the batbariaps
now do, the sun, and moon, and the earth, and stars, and heayen."
Aristotle bears the same testimony, for he says, << It hath been deliy-
ered down to us, by the ancients .and thdbe of old times, both that
these (the stars) were gods, and that the divinity comprehendeth
whole, or umyersal nature." Plutarch gives an authentic testimony to
the general opinion and practice in his time, and plainly expresses lus
approbation of it In his answer to Baletes, the Epicurean, he reck-
ons it among the things which are most firmly believed, and which
cannot without great absurdity be denied, <^ That there is a providence,
and that the sun and moon are animated, whom, says he, all men
worship, and to whom they ofier up sacrifice and prayers." Homor
says of the sun, that *< he seeth and knowedi all things." Menander
dedares, " that men ought to worship him as the first, or chief of the
gods.** Macrobius, who flourished under the emperors Honorius and
Theodosus, and who was himself a pagan, attempts to prove, that the
sun was the one universal deity, who was adored under several names
and characters ; and he concludes with observing, that the priests and
diviners were wiont to use this prayer in their devotions, or holy cere-
monies : *' O almighty, or all-governing sun, the spirit of the woild«
Ae power of the world, the light of the world." He also states that
the Assjrrians gave the name Adad to him whom they worshiped, as
the bluest and greatest god ; that this name being interpreted signi-
fies one ; and that by him they understood the sun. As regards the
Chinese, it is said to have been their custom, firom the time of their
first emperor Fohi, for their emperors to sacrifice to heaven and earth,
and from a remote antiquity they have worshiped the sun, moon, and
stars. The sun was also the principal deity of the Mexicans and
Peruvians, to whom diey erected temples, an4 offered sacrifices, and
paid their most solemn acts of worship. This kind of idolatry there-
fore, which the scripture caUs the worship of the host of heaven, has
obtained in Asia, Europe, Africa, and America.
Bat there was another species of idolatry which also began at an
•JolvxxxL »6,«7,a8.
c2
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30 CREDIBILITY AND ANnQUITY OF
eariy period of the world, and which very generally obtained among
the nations of the earth ; that was the worship of deified men or
heroes. This idolatry produced an amazing multiplicity of gods, and
continually increased. From political views, kings, and the founders
of cities and commonwealths, encouraged the worship of those who
had once been men, and took them into the number of their gods.
As those who set up the heaven, the sun and stars, for gods, applied
to them the name and attributes of the supreme deity ; so when the
custom of worshiping deified men took place, their names and titles,
and the rights of their worship came at length to be confounded with
the celestial deities, and both the one and the other had those attributes
ascribed to them, and that worship paid to them, which properly
belong to the one God, the creator of the universe. Philo Biblins,
according to Eusebius, observes, " it is a thing particularly remarka-
ble, that they applied the name? of their kings to the elements of the
imiverse, and to several of those things which they esteemed to be
gods, and which he calls natural gods, viz, the sun, moon, and stars.'*
This caused an inextricable confusion in heathen worship. Thus
Osiris among the Egyptians, Bel among the Chaldeans, and the Baal
of the Phoenicians, signified both a deified man, and the sun. Many
other names of their gods might be mentioned, which were the names
both of stars and heroes ; and they were both honored with the most
divine titles and epithets. Several writers have shown that the names
of some of these gods were corruptions of the Hebrew names of
God, as Jove, &c., which were originally understood Of the one
supreme deity, but afterwards came to be applied tb deified heroes.
Who all these heroes were, that were worshiped as gods, it is impossible
to tell ; yet that, in several instances, there was in the heathen my-
thology, a mixture of obscure traditions relating to some of the pro-
genitors of the human race, whpse names are mentioned in the scrip-
tures, would not be difficult to prove.
Sir William Jones, in his Asiatic researches, traces the origin of
this idolatry of deified men, and also that of the worship of the heav-
enly bodies to the same source, vi2. to a nation bf Hindoos who
originally possessed and governed the country of Iran, or ancient
Persia, and which, after a careful and learned investigation of the
subject, and upon unexceptionable evidence, he calls the oldest mon-
archy in the world. After having given the evidence upon which his
opinion is founded, he says, concerning Iran, " Ttius it has been
proved by clear evidence and plain reasoning, that a poweriul monar-
chy was established in Iran long before the Assyrian or Pishdadi
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 81
government ; that it was a Hindoo monarchy, though if any choose
to can it Cosian, Casdean, or Scy^iian, we shall not enter into a
debate on mere names ; that it subsisted many centuries, and that its
bistory has been engrafted on that of the Hindoos who founded the
monarchies of Ayodh3ra and Indraprestha ; Html the language of the first
Persian empire was the mother of the Sanscrit, and consequently of
die Zend, and P^rsi, as well as of Greek, Latin, and Gothic ; that
the language of the Assyrians was the parent of Chaldaie and Pahlavi,
and that the primary Tartarean language also had been current in the
same empire ; although, as the Tartars had no books, or even letters,
we cannot with certainty trace their unpolished and variable idioms.
We discover, therefore, in Persia, at the earliest dawn of history, the
three distinct races of men, whom we described on former occasions
as possessors of India, Arabia, Tartary;" (viz. the Hamian, the Ara«
Man, and the Tartarean race,) <<and whether they were collected in
Iran from distant regions, oi: diverged from it, as from a common cen-
tre, we shall easily determine, by the following considerations. Let
us observe, in the first place, the central position of Iran, which is
bounded by Arabia, by Tartary, and by India, whilst Arabia lies too
contiguous to Iran only, but is remote from Tartary, and divided even
from the skirts of India by a considerable gulf. No country, there-
fore, but Persia seems likely to have sent forth its colonies to all the
kingdoms of Asia. The Brahmins could never have migrated from
India to Iran, because they are expressly forbidden by their oldest
existing laws, never to leave the region, which they inhabit to this
day ; the Arabs have not even a tradition of an emigration into Persia,
before Mohammed, nor had they indeed any inducement to quit their
beautiful and extensive domains ; and, as to the Tartars, we have no
trace in history of dieir departure from their plains and forests till the
invasion of the M edes, who, according to etymologists, were the sons
of Madai, and even they were conducted by the princes of an Ass}nrian
family.
The three races, therefore, whom we have already mentioned, (and
more than three we have not yet found,) migrated from Iran, as from
their common country; and thus the Saxon chronicle, I presume
good audiority, brings the first inhabitants of Britain from Armenia,
wMle a late very learned writer concludes, afier all his laborious re-
searches, that the Goths, or Scythians, came from Persia; and another
contends with great force, that both the Irish and old Britons proceeded
severally from the borders of the Caspian ; a ccMucidence of conclusions
firom different media, by persons wholly unconnected, which could
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scarce have happened, if they were not grounded on solid principlei.
We may thereto hold this proposition firmly established, that Irin, or
Persia, in its largest sense, was the tme centre of population, of know-
ledge, of languages, and of arts, which instead of traveling westward
only, as it has been fancifully snppoised, or eastward, as might with
equal reason have been asserted, were expanded in all directions, to all
the regions of the world, in which the Hindoo race had settled under
various denominations.*'*
Of the idolatry of ancient Iran, Sir William Jones, after having
given the statement already quoted,conceming the worship of the heav-
enly bodies, proceeds, "The planetary worship in Persia, seems only
a part of a far more complica^d religion, which we now find in these
Indian provinces ; for Moshan assures us that in the opinion of the best
informed Persians, who professed the faith of Hushang, distinguished
firom that of Zeratusht, the first monarch of Iran, and of the whole earth,
was Nahabab, a word apparently Sanscrit, who divided the people into
four orders, the religious, the military, the commercial, and the servile,
to which he assigns names unquestionably the same in their origin to
those now applied to the four primary classes of the Hindoos. They
added, that he received and promulgated among men a sacred book in
a heavenly language, to which the Mussleman author gives the Ara-
bic title of Desater^ or regulations, but the original name of which he
has not mentioned; |ind that fourteen Nahababs had appeared or
would appear in human shape, for the government of this world.
Now when we know that the Hindoos believe in fourteen Menus or
celestial personages, ijtrith similar functions, the first of whom left a
book of regulation^, or divine ordinances, which they hold equal to
the Veda, and the language of which they believe to be that of the
gods, we can hardly doubt, that the first corruption of the purest and
oldest religion, was the system of Indian theology, invented 'by the
Brahmins, and prevalent in these territories,'* (India, where Sir W.
Jones then resided,) " where the book of Nahabab or Menu is at this
hour the standard of all religious and moral duties."
That the Hindoo worship of deified men spread from Iran (ancient
Persia,) to the four quarters of the globe, is supported by indisputable
facts. The ancient temples found in Mexico contained idols of the
same character with those in the temples of Hindostan, and the sjrs-
tem of idolatry practised by the aboriginal inhabitants of America,
has been identified as the same with that of the Hindoos. Treating
^ Aaatic Reeeatcbei; Disooane on te PerriaoA
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THE OLD TE8TAUENT SdUFTUREa 88
of the Chinese, Sir W. Jones says, <rWe find that the people of
China had an ancient system of ceremonies and superstitions, which
the government and philosophers appear to hare enconraged, and
which has an apparent affinity with some parts of the oldest Indian
worship; they believed in Ihe agency of genii, or tatelary spirits
presiding over the stars, and the clouds ; over l^es, and rivers, moun-
tains, valleys, and woods ; over certain regions, and towns; over all
the elements (of which, like the Hindoos, they reckon five) and par-
ticularly over fire, the most brilliant of them. To these deities. Uiey
offered victims on high places ; and the following passage from the
Shi-an, or book of Odes, is very much in the style of the Brahmins*
**£ven they, who perform a sacrifice with due reverence, cannot
perfectly assure themselves that the divine Spirit accepts their obla-
tions; and far less can they, who adore die gods with languor and
oseitency clearly perceive their sacred illapsis/' These are imper-
fect traces, indeed, but they are traces of an affinity betwen the rdi-
gion of Menu and that of the Chinas." Of the Japanese, the
same au&or says, ^'Among the idols worshiped, according to Eaemp-
fir, in that country, before the innovations of Sacya, or Budha, whom
the Japanese also called Amuda» we find many of those idols whi6h
we every day see in the temples of Bengal, particularly the goddess
with many arms, representing the powers of nature, in Egypt named
Isia, and here Is'ni or Isi." Speaking of Hindostan, the satne au-
thor says, «« We now live among the adoiera of those very deities
who were worshiped under different names in old Greece and Italy,
and among the professors of those philosophical tenets, which the
Ionic and Atdc writers illustrated with all the beauties of thebr
melodious language. On one hand we see the trident of Neptune,
the eagle of Jupiter, the satyrs of Bacchus, the bow of Cupid and
the chariot of the Sun ; on the other we hear the cymbals of Rhea, the
songs of the Muses, and the pastoral tales of Apollo Nomius. In
more retired scenes, in groves, and in seminaries of learning, we may
perceive the Brahmins and the Sarmanes, mentioned by Clemens, dis-
puting in the form of logic, or discoursing on the vanity of human
enjoyments, on the immortality of the soul, her emanation from the
eternal mind, her debasement, Wanderings,. and final union with her
source. The six philosophic schools, whose principles are explained
in the Dersana Sastra, compose all the metaphysics of Ihe old
Academy; nor is it possible to read the Yedanta, or the many fine
compositions in relation to it without discovering that Pythagoras and
5
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84 CRBDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
Plato derired their sublime theories from the same fountain with the
sages of India." *
Thus it appears that the worship of the heavenly bodies and of
deified men, at an early period of the history of the human race,
had their origin in the ancient kingdom of Iran or Persia, and from
thence, by emigrating tribes was carried to every quarter of the globe.
The question arises, were these, or either of them, the first religion of
the human race, or were they corruptions of a more ancient and
more pure religion ? The infidd Taylor asserts that all other religions
were derived from the Hindoo mythology, and Hume, as has been
seen, assumes that m^n could not have betti from the beginning wor-
shipers of the one God. That both these assumptions are false
it is easy to prove ; for many of the nations who practised these
idolatries, still preserved among them some knowledge of God ; and
many, of them believed him to be a self-existent and invisible Spirit
It is true that the knowledge of God retained by them was so cover-
ed and overwhelmed, as to be scarcely discernible under a monstrous
load of superstitions and idolatries. Some who acknowledged a su-
preme Being rendered him no worship at all ; with others his wor-
ship was so mixed and confounded with that of idol deities, that scarce
any traces of it appear in their worship, their religion, or their laws.
The great number of divinitieB which, from time to time, were intro-
duced, and the worship of which. Was established by public authori-
ty^, turned off their attention and regard from the one true God, so
that he was in a great measure neglected and overlooked ; but that a
knowledge of such a being was not altogether lost among the nations
of the earth will presently appear.
It is well known that the Indians of this continent, even ihe most
savage among them, and who have had little or no intercourse with
the whites, believe in the existence of the great Spirit Garcillasso
de la Vega, says, that the most ancient inhabitants of Peru, before
the Incas came among them, and whom he represents as extremely
igi^orant, rude and uncultivated, yet acknowledged one supreme God,
whom they called Packa Camack ; and said it was he who gave life
to all things, and sustained and preserved the universe, but that, as
he was invisible, and they did not see him, they could not know him ;
and therefore to him they seldom erected temples, or offered sacri-
fices, though they showed their veneration for him by bowing their
heads, and lifting up their eyes when his sacred name was mention-
* Asiatic Reiearchef.
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THj: OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURBS. 35
ed. It is said of the negroes of Guinea, that they generally ac-
knowledge one supreme Almighty Beihg, but believe he is too far
above as to take notice of poor mortals : therefore they pay him no
manner of adoration, neither praying to him, nor giving him thanks
for any thing; but pray, and sacrifice to a multitude of other deities^
some of which are extremely ridiculous. It was long thought that
the Hottentots had no notion of God at all, but it appears that tliey
believe in a supreme Being, the creator of heaven and earth, and of
all things therein, through whose omnipotence all things live and
move ; and that this Being is endowed with unsearchable attributes
and perfections, giving him a name which in their language signifies
the God of Gods. This may seem to argue high ideas of the Deity,
but then, they say of this supreme God, that he is a good man, doing
harm to no one, and dwells far above the moon, which they worship,
though they pay none to him.
Although the Greek and Latin poets were great corruptors of the-
ology, yet amidst the crowd of divinities mentioned by them, there is
still to be found in their writings the notion of one supreme, of
whom they speak in the most exalted terms, and to whoih they as-
cribe the highest divine attributes, and which are peculiar to the one
tnie God, such as, that -he is omnipotent, that he seeth all things,
and goverheth the world. It is true that they confounded him, whom
they represented as the supreme God, with that Jupiter who diey
represent as committing so many acts of indecency and licentiousness.
Nevertheless their writings prove that the notion of one supreme Dei-
ty was never utterly extinguished amidst all the confusions and per-
versions of the pagan theology.
Cicero, speaking of the W9rk8 of nature and providence, says,
^ How is it possible for us, when we behold these, and numberless
other things of the same kind, to entertain a doubt, that there pre^i-
deth over them some maker of so great a work, if these things had a
beginning? or a moderator and governor, if, as Aristotle supposes,
they existed from eternity? The ancient Arabians possessed a
knowledge of the one supreme Being. Sir William Jones, treating
of their religion, after proving that they worshiped the planets and
fixed stars, adds, ** But the religion of the poets seenis to have been
pure theism; and this we know with certainty, because we hare
Arabian verses of unsuspected antiquity which contain pious and ele-
vated sentiments, on the goodness, and justice, the power, and om«
nipotence of AUah, or the God.
The ancient Tartars appear to have possessed a knowledge of the
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86 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
one supreme Being. We are told, fays Sir W. Jones, by Abnlgazi,
*< that the pure adoration of one Creator prevailed in Tartary during
the first generations from Yafet, but was extinct before the birth of
OghaXy who restored it in his dominions; but some ages after him,
the Monguls and Turcs relapsed into gross idolatry; but that Chengiz
was a Theis^ and in a conversation with the Mohammedan Doctors,
admitted their arguments for the being and attributes of the Deity to
be unansweral;>le, while he contested the evidence of their prophet's
legation." The ancient Chinese had a knowledge of the supreme
God, On this subject, Sir W« Jones says, «< Of the religious opin-
ions, entertained by Confucius and his followers, we may glean a
general notion firom the fragments of their works, translated by Coup-
let ; they professed a firm belief in the supreme God, and gave a de-
monstration of his being, and his providence, from the exquisite beau-
ty and perfection of the celestial bodies, and the wonderful order of
nature in the whole fabric of the visible world. From this belief
they deduced a system of ethics, which the philosopher sums up in
m few words at die close of the Sein^ya.*' He, says Confucius, "who
shall be fully persuaded that the Lord of heaven governs the universe,
who shall in all diings choose moderation, who shall perfectly know
his own species, and so act among them, that his life and manners
may conform to his knowledge of God and man, may truly be said
to discharge all the duties of a sage, and to be far exalted above the
common herd of the human race. But such a religion, and such
morality could never have been general ; and we find that the people
of China had an ancient system of ceremonies and superstitions
which the government and philosophers appear to have encouraged,
and which has an apparent affinity with some parts of the oldest
Indian worship.** The first religion of Iran, which according to
Sir William Jones, was the source and centre of all idolatry, was
that of the one supreme Being, Ite says, «« The primeval religion of
Iran, if we rely on the autliorities adduced by Meshani Fa-ni, was
that which Newton calls tlie oldest (and it may justly be called the
noblest) of all religions ; a firm belief that one supreme God made
the world by his power, and continually governed it by his provi-
dence ; a pious fear, love and adoration of him ; a due reverence for
parents and aged persons; a paternal afifection for the whole hu-
man species, and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute crea-
tion.'* What is still more convincing is the fact diat the book of
Menu, already mentioned, speaks of the supreme Goo, of his creation
of the universe, and styles him a self-existent Sphit. Its first sm-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRBPTURBS. 87
tence ttads thus : •* Menu sat reclined iridi his attention fixed on one
object, the supreme Ood." Treatipg^ of the creation, it is said,
<* The wafers are called Nara, becaus^ they were the production of
Nara, or the Spirit of God." From which it appears that a know<>
ledge of the one supreme God, obtained among mankind at a very
euly period of the history of the human race, and this notion has
never been wholly extinguished. How did man first come to ao-
qnire this knowledge ? If the primitive religion of Iran Was id<^a-
try, how did the author of the book of Menu- acquire the knowledge
of t supreme self*existent Spirit? How did the savages of Amerjea
make so important a discovery ? In a word, how is it that among all
nations, the roost Hide and* barbarous, as Well as the most civilized!
this notion has obtained ? Mr. Hume maintains that this knowledge .
could not have been the result of their own reasonings ; and he is
right But' the question recurs, how did ^ey obtain it ? and the only
answer which can be given, is, that it must h&ve been revealed by
God himself, to the progenitor of the rade; and has been handed
down by tradition, firom one genei^ti^ to the other. * If this be not
admitted, the .solution of the question is impossible ; and the Infidel .
finds himself in a difficulty, firom which he cannot extricate himself.
But admit it, and the difficulty at once vanishes.
Nothing could originally be known of the attributes and will of God,
but from himself; and whether this knowledge was inwrought in its
principles with the ver^^ nature of the first man; or delivered to him
by the voice of his Creator ; or imparted by the ministration of angels;
or in whatever ^mode communicated, * it iis^ Btill revilation. All the
commiinications subsequently made by God to the inhabitants of the
dd worid, were new revelations, although none of them were giv-
en in writing, of afterwards written by those to wKom they were de-
livered. The transmission of divinely imparted knowledge would,
in the first instance, be a very simple affair ; the instruction by Adam
of his children in what he knew. The variety and extent of know-
ledge which was lodged with him we' cannot tell ; but it should be
borne in mind, that if Revelation be true, he came into the world t
perfect man, botl^ in body and mind; his afiecdon for his children,
and their posterity, would influence him to . communicate to them all
he knew, that was necessary to secure th^ir virtue and happiness ;
and it is not to be expected that .the narrative of Moses Would supply
08 with particulars merely calculated to gratify our curiosity ; besides
it is as brief as its special d^gn, and the proportion it was ultimately
to bear to the entire volume of scripture rendered necessary.
D
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88 CRipiBILFrY AND ANTIQUITY OP
Iff the insUtatioix of animal- sacrifioes, a proof ezbts of the rereU-
tion to Adam of certain' facts pf the divine will, respecting which no
record is prieserved, and also of hisfaithful transmission of it to his
posterity. No natural origin of animal sacrifice can be assigned*
except that which rfefers^to the divine appointment; and that Adam
had trailed his family in the ohservance oj^ that rite of Teligion is
plaint from the history of Caii) and^ Abel. It is equally fair to con-
clude that he instructed them in whatever else he knew respecting the
character of God, -and of His will. The offering of animids in sacrir
fice, as expiatory victims, has prevailed in every age, and among all
' nations ; and the scriptural doctrine of acceptance by an atonement,
has by -this means been 'every Where practically recognized. Here
then is tradition from^ the very beginning, coming in to our aid,- and
universally, both as to place and time, directing religious services.
The providence of God in securing to this rite th^ universality which
it has obtained is vety remarkable, and most unequivocally teaches
the vast importance which pertains to it, as a means of instruction,
and as furnishing a principle toNyhicheven the Gospel itself addresses
its most direct and forcible appeals.
A similar duty wonld devolve upon Adam's chir4ren, and a like
practice ^ould be pursued by them, in reference to their respective
&milies, ^d thus, the existing lights of revelation would shine alike
on all the* families of the^^tirth.* It is easy however to perceive how
the truths thus transmitted would, from time to time, be liable to
shades of interpretation, according to the various prejudices, and dis-
positions of those through* whose hands it passed. Hence the neces-
sity of frequent references to the fir^t parent of our race, or to those
with whom he was known to have immediately communicated, and
hence the importance of the' lengthened lives of the antediluvian patri-
archs. Adam was. contemporary with Methuselah for two hundred
and eighty-three years, and Methuselah died only forty years before
the deluge, when Noal^ was fiv^ hundred years old, and his three sons
were grown to maturity, all of th^m having, ^probably, been ac-
quainted with Methuselah, the connecting link between themselves
and the first man.
Noah became the depository of the kndwl^ge of the old worid,
and the medium of its transmission af\er the deluge. He lived after
the flood three hundred and fifty years ; and the families of mankind
were of one language, and resided in the Bame neighborhood, until the
destruction of the tower (or temple) of Babel. It is fair to conclude,
that at this time, the knowledge of mankind was generally equaL
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tBE OLD TESTAMEIfT SCRIPTUB]B8. 39
Borne there undoubtedly were^ who hadsfMnrrat>ted the truth, perhaps
many, and had forsaken the simplicity of the ditine institutions. But
there were general doctrines known to all, and outward forms of reli-«
fious worship common to all. This is fully proved hf the common
features of all systems of idolatrous worship, both in ancient and
modem times, and there is no other iiray by "which this fact can be^
satiafactorily accounted for. The several sections of mankind, as
tey separated from the plains of Shinar, carripd with them the same
general knowledge of the existence and claims of Qodt and of th®
Ixodes andYorms of his worships 'and upon these tradUioni of reve^
laHon^ 08 a basis j human reason founded its various syjrtemp of phi*.
loBophy and religion. The departure £r6m pqritf would be gradual,
locidental in some, cases^* and retarded in others, by the' ev^varying
prejudices of mankind, and' the changing circumstances of society.
The principle of .change being once admitted, it is not surprising that
die inventions of men soon tbok the place of the institutions of God*
Still, however, the great fact cf his existence^ continued to be
admowledged, and the rite of sacrifice was^ by his providence, uni-
versally preserved. . ' >
The force of the above argument is strengthened by what Sir W.
Jones says concerning the. book of Menu, (already quoted from,)
** though not even pretended to have been written by him, is more
ancient than the Bhagavat ; but that it was composed in the first age
of the world, the Brahmins \r6uld find it hard to persuade me ; atid
Jhe date, which has been assigned to it, does not appear in either of
the two copies which I possess, or in any other, that.has been col-
lated for me ; in fact the supposed date is compri2ed in a sense which
fi^dy contradicts the work itself, for it was not Menu who composed
ihe system of law, by the command of his father Brahlna, but a holy
Biessenger or demi-god, named Bri'ga, who revealed to men^ what
Menu had declared at the request of him and other saints oppatri^
anhsr*'
The brief records which Moses furnishes of the sojoumings of die
patriarchs- show that for many generations after die dispersion, the
• knowledge of the one true God remained in some of the principle
nations of the earth. Although in the d^ys of Moses, the Phceni-
eians and Canaanites were overrun with idolatry' ahd polytheism;
yet, four hundred years before, when Abraham scjoomed among them,
no traces of idolatry dre to be found, in die s^ccount given of them, in
* EJaewhere Sir W. Jonee identifies Mena widi Noah.
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40 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUmr OP
. the Moside history. But the contrary appears from what is said of
Melchisedek, a king in that country,* who was also a priest of the
Most ffigh God, and to whom Abraham himself paid great respect,
and gaye the tenth part of the spoils he had taken. . Abimelech, who
was also a king in Canaan, about the same time, seems to have liad
a knowledge of the true God, and to have been his worshiper ; and
the inhabitants of that country s^em to have regarded Abraham as a
prophet of the Mpst High, and a person, much in the favor of God.
When Abrahjun visited Egypt, neither Pharaoh nor the Eg3rptians
seem to have beei;! infected with those idolatries for which, afterwards,
. they were so famous. Therefore, Mr. Hume's assumption, that the
first and most ancient religion of mankind was, and necessarily must'
have been polytheism and idolatry, and Mr. Taylor's assertion that
all oiher religions were, derived from the Hindoo mythology, are both
' untrue ; it having been cleariy proved that, the first and most ancient
religion of mankind was theism, ^or the worship of the oiie^true God,
the creator of all tilings.
SECTION m.
If the first and oldest religion of mankind, was the worship jof one
God, or self-existent and invisible Spirit, who created and governs the
universe, the inquiry now is ; is Jehovah th^t being T When it will be
ascertaioed whetherthe facts detailed by the Wjriters of the Old Teista-
ment did occur, that* question will be answered. But in order to a
correct decision on iheir credibility it wilL be necessary, first, to con-
sider )he STTLB of the writings in question, a proper understandiilg o^
which will prevent ihe inquirer after tr:Mth from being led astray, by
the misapprehensions or misrepresentations of the Infidel. For exam-
ple : Mr. Olmsted says, of the writer of the ,book of Genesis ; ** His
God must have been corporeal." t' His notion was that God must
have been a very great man." His reason for this inference is, that
Moses says, «<God created man in his, own image." The dame
inference is oflen drawn from the fact that, in the scriptures, we read
of the arms of God, his ears, his eyes, his nostrils, &c. But a proper
understanding of the style in which the scripturea were written, it is ^
believed, will convince every candid mind of the fallacy and absurdly
of all such objections*
The STYLE of the writings of the Old Testament is figurative and
poetical ; not that sort of allegory which rhetoricians jise as a mere
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCBIPTUBEiS. 41
lasemblige of metaphort, but a symbdical mode of writing which
embelliBhea and dignifies historical truths .
To be understood by manr that whicfti treats of Qod, or any com-
Bkunieation made by - God to him, must necessarily be conveyod
through human language, and by the use of figures. The fiffures
used must be suited to the ca][>aeitiea'6f those to whom the communir
eation is piade, and they must be drawn 'from objects with\which they
are familiar.
As the metallurgic workman by his skill.and perseverance, separates
the pure silver from the drosq in which it is imbedded, so our facul-
ties must be exercised in separating the actual ^substance of divine
communication from that which is necessarily hiiman, the forms of
language, and the condescending methodn of comparison, by which
God brings spiritual and divine, realities within the sphere of our
narrow comprehensions. - The matter is divine, but the vehicle is
human.
We have no* intuitive knowledge of the nature, attributes, purp6ses, '
and acts of .the Infimte Spirit We have no possibk means of receiv-
ing iuiowledge, though communicated from its own divine fountain,
except through the medium of resemblances to objects of>our own
thoughts, or of sensible perception by our own bfgana. We can form
no conception of the divine nature as infinite intellect, fure una), but
by reflecting upon, and drawing conchuions from our own conscious-
ness, and the operations of our own minds. We gain our notion of the
eternity of God by adding ^e notion of infinity to our perception of
^*flow of time. By our touch and our sight we arrive at the ideas
of motion, ^d resistance, and impulse ; and by reflecting on the les-
son thus taught, we rise to the notion of eflects and causes. We look
and feel around, we lay hold of bodies extraneous to ourselves, and
we discover certain sts^tes and alterations of states following upon cer-
tain conditions of tangibly and visible things ; we then rise to a wider
survey of the visible world arotmd us, and we see a vast number of
dianges taking place, upon a scale of great magnitude ; and at last our
feeble minds, having acquired the idea of power, we transfer it, witii
the highest increase of form, to our conceptions of the infinite and
eternal Deity ; and we call our new idea Omnipotence. In a similar
way, we form conceptions of justice and klndnes, from the action
of parental and infantile feelings, and from the mental phenomena
which we experience inwardly, and the actions -of our fellow beings
observed outwardly : to these conceptions we also annex the qualities
of infinity and eternity, and thus we gain some notion of the moral
d2 .6
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^ CREDIBILmr AND ANTIQUITY OF
attributes of the Supreiqe Mijeety, his lioliness and benignity. Bat
how faint are our best conceptions ! . .
From fliis general statement certain important consequences follow.
1. All the methods of representation tliat may be employed to con-
yey notions of the Deity to the mindof man, must of absohUe necei'
sUy, be desinged to produce' only analogical oricomparative ideas, and
must be adapted to that end. If we n^ay so speak, they are. pictures
which stand in the place of spiritual realities ; but the .realities them-
selves belong to the inaccessible light.
2. The materials of such comparison must be different, according
to the ▼ar3ring qtates of mental improvement in which different minds
are found. Let it for a moment be supposed, that it had pleased God
to grant an immediate revelation to the Athenians, in the age of
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and for their use; we' may believe that
ill such a case, the communication would have been ^expressed in the
terms and phrases to which they had habituated themselves, and
'moulded upon 'a system of references to the natural scenery around
them, to their modes and action in social life, and to their current
notions upon all other, subjects. Not only would the diction hav^
been pure Greek, but the figures, «the, allusions and illpstrations, of
whatever kind, would also have been Attic. The Hebraized style,
which was adapted to the people of Israel, would have failed to coa-
vey just sentiments to the men of Greece; for, thou^ it would
not have been absolutely unintelligible, the collateral ideas would have
bden mi^pprehended, false bye-notions would have insinuated them-
selves, and the principal sentiments, to inculcate which was ^e object
of the whole process, would have been grievously distorted. Or, had
the favor of a positive revelation been given to th^ ancient Britons,
or to the Indians of this continent, it would have been clothed in
iftiother dre^s of repMsentative imagery ; and described in other and
very different forms of speech. . '
Yet in such case, and under every variety that could occur, the enu-
cleating of the representationd, if it were fairly accomplished, would
bring out the smne truths, and the practical benefit of piety and
virtue resulting from each mode; for the classes of n^ankind to
which each was adapted, would be the same if improved' with equbl
fidelity.
.3. The earliest revelations whiph God; was pleased to grant to man,
must have been conveyed by representations of the character whlbh
has been described; they mttst have been composed of materials
derived from the knowledge possessed by the subjects of those revela-
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THF OLD .TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. n
U011S9 and the rdatiom under which they stood to beings and circum*
'stances around them.
This position id only ^e correlate of saying; that the fevelation
must have been given and transmitted in die langoage spoken, or
written by those to wfiom^the -message of God came ; or to say all in
one word, it must have be^n intelligible. If it be objected against
the supposition, that, by this showing, tha revelation would be clothed
in the imagery, of gipss ^d sensible oljjjects, with the imperfections,
and misconceptions *under which those objects appeared to men pos-
sessing only the the rude ideas of a primeval state of society, a cor-
responding objection' woufd lie ^igainst the revelation being conveyed
in a rode and imperfect language. Then, to be consistent it would
be requisite further to maintain, that the' terms and style of the reve-
lation must hate been in the most pure and abstract kind of phrase .
that human diction could afford, the most nearly approachiDg to the
spirituality of the divine nature, and the majesty of eternal things ;
and this would be equivalent to saying, tl^at it ought to have anticipa-
ted by many centuries the prbgress of man, as an intellectuaTand social
being-; that it ought to have been written, not in the lan^age of shep-
herds and herdsmen, but' in that of moral philosophers and rhetori-
cians ; not in Hebrew,' but in Greek or English.
It would also plainly follow that, if the prescription as to the forms
of thou^t and diction which such, presumptions Remand, as befitting^
a revelation from hcaM^n, were- admitted, a revelation so expressed,
would have been unintelligible *io *<the ages and- generation^ "of
primitive times^ and to the generality of mankind ih all tiines.
We are thus le4 to another observation, wh^h will bring us to the
principle proposed atf Ae solution of the biblical question with, rela-
tion to aU human science.
The revelation^, successively given to the fathers of mankind, to the.
ancestors of the Israelitish natisn, and to par^ular persons of that
nalion, ** at sundry tiines and in divers manners,** were conveyed in
representations to the senses, chiefly that of sight, and in words
descriptive of those representations.
To the slightest ration^ consideration, it must be evident that the
first human pair were created in the perfection of their bodily organs.
and mental powers ; and that they were immediately endowed by their
Creator with a ftill use of their organs an4 faculties, and with a com-
petent measure of the habits thence resulting, that use, and those hab-
its, which all subsequent human beings have had to acquire, by the
slow process of parental training and imitative acquisition. Had
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44 CRBDiBlLltY AND ANTIQUITY OP
these qualities not been thiis infused into them, or made instinctive,
at. the very commencement of their being, they could not have pre-
served their own lives, nor have rendered to their heavenly Sovereign
any religious h.omage. '* The German philosopher Fichte, gaVe the
decision of reason, when he' asked the question and, returned the
answer. Who educated the first human pair? A Spirit took them'
under his care ; as is laid dpwn in an ancient, venerable, original doc-
ument, which contains the deepest, and sublimQst wisdom, and pre-
sents results to which all philosophy must at last return."* Nature
and reason declare the certainty of such an order of things, and the
actual reaMty of it we > learn from the passage of revelation objected
against in the (quotation Nvhioli is given at the t^ommencement of this
section. '* God created man' ii^ his owii image." In this passage w«
have a divine communication conveyed in a represenCaition to the sen-
ses, and in words descriptive of that representation, and the Christian
Scriptures separate the actual substance of the divine communica-
tion from that ivhich is necessarily humdn. In other words, \hey
inform us, that that image consisted in righteousness and true hdi-
ness.
- ** The character of the Old Testament revelation consisted in rep-
resenting God by the figurative attribution of the human form, wiA
its organs, and functions ; and the human mind, with its afifections and
passions. . That this m^de of instructing men ivas condescendingly
adopted by the Infinite Spirit is manifest ixpm the whole tenor of
these books. ^* Do not I BU heaven and eardi ? saith the Lord."
" Whither shall I flee from thy presence ?" What could •communi-
cate more, exalted- id^as 'of the one living, and*, tjrue God ? Yet it"
pleased this Being to bring himself down, not to the comprehension,
for that is impossible, but to the apprehension of untutored men,
by rpprcsentaiions drawn from the cirouipstances of man, and from
other natural objects. Is it intended to represent the beauty and
grandeur of the divine nature ? ** He covereth himself with light
as with a garment." His universal knowledge: "The eyes oi the
Lord run to and fro though Uie' whole earth." • His unfailing notice
and gracious- attention to his silvering servants : ** Thou wilt hear me,
O God, incline thine ear unto m^, uiito my speech.". His jus^ce upon
the wicked : *f When ye spread forth ybur^hands, I will hide mine eyes
firom you." His compassion and forgiving grace: "Is Ephraim
my dear son ? Is he a pleasant child ? - l^or since { spake against
• Dr. Pye Smith.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIPTURE8. 45
liim, I do eamefitly reraember him still; thereioTe my boweb are
trouUed for him; I will rarely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord."
His almighty p6wer : <* I have made the earth, and created man
upon it, I, eren my hands, have stretched out the heavens/*
In like manner *^ heart " of Jehovah is put to signify his love and
approbation; his '' noatrUsy'' *' mouthy'' and "6rea/A," his *' lips'*
and '* tongue f*^ express his declarations of mercy to the penitent, and
retributive justice upon the ungodly ; his feet and footat^e designate
the piroceedings of his government
By a further application x>f this method of -bringing down divine
tilings to the grasp of m^n, the Scriptures, and most abundantly the
earliest boolLs, represent the attributes of Deity and their exercise ia
the moral government of rational creatures, by aseribing to him the
svdden emotions, and the more tranquil and mutable affections which,
in theur literal meaning, can be predicated only of limited and impei^
feet beings.
To express the wisdom of God in the adaptation of creatures* forms
. and ^tnietural organs, to the purposes destiqed, his \t represented in •
the attitudes of a man, who has invented and constructed a new ma*
dune; or who has made an untried experiment. He watches the
working, he looks at the result, he sees the whole \o have succeeded
. to the fulness of his intention ; and he sits down contented and hap*
py, to repose after his labor. «< God saw every thing (le had made ;
and behold it was very good. Thus the heavens, and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them ; and on the seventh day God end-
ed his work which he had made, and he rested on the s^ventl) day',
from all his work which he had made !"
The disobedience and ingratitude of mankind to their heavenly
Maker and Benefactor, and his abhorrence of every thing wicked, in
principle and in act, are expressed by the \vaage of a man who see)) a
vsdoable work spoiled, and his hopes turned to the'reverse of just ex-
■pectation ; he therefore bitterly repents that he had formed rach «
purpose, and undergone the labor of executing it <*God saw Aat
the wickedness of jnto was' great in the earth ; and that every imag-
ination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; and it
repented the Lord, that he had made man in the earth, and it grieved
him at his heart.**
Is it not most manifest that this manner of depicting td men the
perfections, operations, justice and mercy, of the infinite Being, was
most touching and impressive T Was it not well adapted^ to the' men-
tal capacities and the susceptibility of strong affections, which must
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46 CREDIBILITY AND AOTIQUITY OF
have characterized man in a state of rude simplicity ? Would a style
more coldly correct^ more philosophical, have been better fitted to an-
swer the ends of religious instruction T Better adapted ! would it
have been adapted at all?. Let us elevate the beneficial effect gf such
a style the most that we.reasbnably can'; still it would have been cold^
unattractive, and with difficulty comprehended';, would arouse no at-
tention; would leave scarcely any impre^ion upon the unleamed,
who compose the great mass of society, or even upon the best educa-
ted children. But the simple imagery of Scripti^re- is instinct with
life,, and' touches every, chord of feeling.
Does the Infi4el still object? Such an one has forgotten in the
pride of his philosophy, that his best conceptidns of- God, ^d his laopi
chastened manner of expression are likewise formed upon resem-
blances and .analogies ; and this is the only "way by which he can
haye any conceptions of the infinite one. The difife'rence between
him and the most ru^e children of nature lies only in degree ; and it
should be borne in mind, that according to the universal rule' of lan-
guage, the figurative is always to be explained by the simple, the ob-
scure by the perspicuous. * .
Litimately connected with what has just been stated, are the objec-
tions urged aj^nst the writings of the Scriptures^ because they speak
the language of appearances. These men, says the Infidel, could not
have been the inspired servants of God, for their writings betray their'
ignorance of the laws of. nature. Do they not often speak as though
the e^rth was ipmiovable, and the sun in motion? This heavenly
body, according to them, rises and sets, and its course is firem one end
of the heavens unto the other. The moqn and the stars are in mo-
tioh ; the sun at the command of Joshua stands stiU in the mid heav-
en, and heaven itself is a solid arch, and standing upon pillars, for
they speak of the pillars of heaven being shaken. It is impossible
that these men could have been inspired of God, for they teach a false
system of physics. And, say they, their systems of physics being'
false, their theology must also be fdse.
Such objectors speak and Write as thou^ they would have the
Bible speak like Isaac Newton.. But they forget that if the Bible had
spoken about the , scenes of nature«-we shall not say as God sees
them, but as the scientific men of future ages will see them— they
eould not undentand it Nay : Newton himself could have understood
nothing of it. Besides, the most advanced language of science is not,
* ' i I ■ ;
See Dr. Pye Smith'i Scripture sad Geok>gy«
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 47
and never will be, anj thing more than the language of appearance!
The admirable Gaussen says, "The visible world is much more than
yon imagine ; a figure which passes, a scene of illusions, and of phan-
toms. That which you there call reality, is still in itself only an ap-
pearance relatively to a more elevated reality, and a .more profound
analysis. .In our ignorant mouth the word reality has nothing abso-
lute ; it is a term totally relative, and employed in proportion as we
think we have reached a new round on the ladder by which we come
up from the depths of our ignorance.
The human eye sees objects only under two dimensions, and pto-
ject| them all upon the same canvass, until the toych^ and some e(X-
perience haye rendered to them the reality bf depth, or a third dimen-
sion. Colors are' accidents, and belong only by reflection, and by
illusion, to the objects which present them to you. The very impen^
etrability of bodies, their solidity, their extension,* are, after all, only
an appearance ; and present themselves to us as a reality only in ex-
pectation of a profounder science, which shall substitute another for it.
Who nifay tell us where this analysis is to stop ? and what would be
our language concerning beinga which are most £imiliar to us, if we
were only endowed with one more sense ; with antennse, for exam^
pie, like the ants and the bugs ? " ^ Therefore, provided it be exact,
the expression of appearances is a language philosophically correct,
and it is the very language which the Scriptures ought to have adopt-
ed. Do not men in their social mtercourse, speak of the scenes of
nature in this language ? and would these objectors have the Bible to
speak -of them to men of all capacities; and of all- generations, oi\jr
erwise than they themselves do? yea, than even the most learned
ihemselvea speak of them to one another ? Do not the greatest phi-
losophers themselves speak of the sun rising and setting; the equi-
noxes receding^ and the planets advancing ? Therefore, the fact that
the Scriptures speak the language of appearances, so far from consti-
. tnting an argument against their credibility and inspiration, this and
their freedom from all error, are evidences of the wisdom, and conde-
scension of their Author, who in them useB a language which can be
understood by men of all ages, and of every degree of intellectual
attainments.
* Ganaien on the Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures, page 136.
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48 . CREDIBnJTY AND ANnQUTTY OP
CHAPTER 11.
CRBPIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF THS OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
Mr. Olmsted begins his attack upon the writings of Moses by say-
ing, *^ Let us suppose that Cicero wete to re-appear among us, with
faculties as vigorous as when he penned his oration for Milo, and you
were to put the Bible into his hands, with a request that he would
read it carefully, and give you his opinion as to the veracity of the
several authoni. He reads a few of the first chapters of Genesis.
He then asks who the author is. You tell him his. name was Moses.
He takes it for granted. He iben tells you that this Moses relates
some wonderful facts-»-so wonderful that he cannot believe them;
and asks again, how Mosers knew them. You tell him that Moses
was inspired. He calls upon you for proof of this assertion. Yo«
reply that he must presume it. He- would then address you some-
what in the following strain : '* You requested me to examine diis
book, as a man of good sense or a logician should do, and why ask
me now to take for granted what would render scrutiny, or examina-
tion of testimony uilnecessary ; for if Moses was inspired by a truth
telling God, as you wish me, to presume, he must necessarily have
written the truth." Under the full conviction that I have proved that
nothing can be presumed in favor pf Moses (hat could not be presum-
ed (n favor of any other author, I shall proceed to examine the Pen-
' tateuch, on the supposition that a man of that name wrote it.
I have already remarked, that from no man who is said to have
lived before Moses, and there were many to whom he says God re-
vealed himself, have we a- single linftT The questioh here sugg^ests
itself: how did Moses know what transpired at the creation? for he
no where tells us, that in any of their interviews, God ever told him
any thing about it. You must infer that God told him, or this cos-,
mogony of his was a mere vague tradition. I shall proceed upon tha
ground that Moses means to be understood as telling us that he de-
rived his information from the mouth of God himself. If God told
him so, all he has written is true ; hut, if I can show that what he
has written is not ti'ue, then God. never told him so."
Without detaining the reader to comment upon Mr. Olmsted's un-
just and false representation of the ground occupied by the advocates
of Revelation ; suffice it to say, that to arrive at ^ correct decision
concemmg the veracity of the writers of the Old Testament, the en-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT OCBIPTUBEa 4i
fMK m not lequired fint to suppose that any of ihem are inspired—
audit is heartily admitted ^ that nothing can he presamed in ^yor of
Moses, that could not be presumed in favor of any other author.*'
Mr. Olmsted enquires^ M How did Moses know what transpired at
the creation ? *' To this it is replied,, that it will be ftHmi^Vi this
eosmo§[ony of his was a mere vague tradition, and consequently
mwordiy of credit, provided it can be proved that it contains any
error concerning the material world. But it is maintained that while
dl the false theologies of bpth the ancients and the modems, al^und[
not only with systems revoltmg in their views of the Deity, but with
the grossest physical errors, that nothing of this nature is to be
found in the .writings of Moses, oi: in any of the books of the Bible.
Had Moses, like the authors of the sacred writings of the Hindoos^
represented the mocfn as 60,000 leagues higher than the sun, that it
shines by its own light, that it animates our body; that the night
is formed by the' descent of the sun behind the Semeyra mountains,
situated in the middle of the globe, and many thousand leagues high ;
that oar earth is flat and triangular, composed of seven stories, each
of which has its own degree of beauty, its inhabitants- and its sea ;
that the first is of honey, the other is of sugar, the other of butter^
the other t>f wine ; and finally, that all the xpaiBs is carried <m the
heads of innumerable elephants, who in shaking themselves t»use the
earthquake, then w6 should have been brought to the mortifying con*
elusion that Moses was an impostor. Or had his vjrridngs contained
one of the many eirors with which those of the most eminent phi-
kMophecs of Greece and Rome abound ; or had he like Mohammed
lepreeented mountains as being made to hinder the earth from being
moved, and represented it as being held by anchors and cords ; or
had he given us the cosmogony of Buffon; or, like Lucretius,
Plioey or Plutarch, and even the fathers of the 'Christian church, had
he reasoned against the theory of antipodes^ we should have been
constrained to have treated his natural philosophy with contempt, and
as a consequence, would have spurred his theology. But we rejoice '
under the conviction that not one of the fifty sacred writers of the
Bible, from the admirable Mosef, who wrote in the desert four hun-
dred years before ihe Trojan war, down to that fisherman, the son
of Zebedee, who wrote in Ephesus and Patmos, during the reign of
Domitian, not one of them have made one of those mistakes, which
the science of every age discovers in the books of thd preceding* ages:
none of those absurdities which modem astrpnomy diBOovers in such
great numbers in the writings of the ancienls.
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50 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
Let the Infidel search through the Scriptures, from one end to the
odier, seeking for such spots ; and while he is so doing, let him bear
in mind that this book speaks of every thing; that it describes natore,
recounts its grandeurs, narrates its * creation ; tells us of the for-
mation of the heavens, of the light, of the waters, of the atmosphere,
of the mountains, of the animals and of the plants ; that it teaches us
jthe first revolutions of the world, and that it predicts to us its last ;
that it treats, not only of the visible* but of; the invisible world ; that
it is a book to which nearly fifty persons, of every degree of cultivation,
taste, and -condition, have cbntributed. Let him search, but he cannot
find one of the thousand errors with which both ancient and -modem
writings ^re filled, when the^ i^peak either of heaven or of earth, or
of their revolutions, or of their elements. And if the \vritings of
Moses, and all the others, be found to be perfecdy free from every
physical error, then will Mr. Olmsted's question be answered; for then
in these sacred pages, we must be constrained to hear the voice of
the world's Creator, and it is maintained that the more closely they
are examined, the more distincdy will that voice be heard.
Mr. Gaussen says, of the Scriptures, " They^ speak poetically^
but precisely the Irue language of appearances. We there hear a
£ither who condescends to «peak to the smallest of his children; but in
such a manner, that die elder can never discover a single word of Bis
conversation contrary to the true position of the things Which he has
made, and in stich a manner too, that ofien he drops, without affecta-
tion, words enough to show them that all that which ihey have learn-
ed of his works for four thousand years, he knew before them, and
better than they now. do. It is thus, that in, the Bible, eternal wisdom
addressees its children. In proportion as they grow, they see the
Scriptures made for their age, adapted to their developments, appear-
ing always, to grow with them, and always presenting to them, on
the pne hand, absence of all errors, and on the other, indirect indica-
tions, but incontestable, of a science which preceded all that of
man."*
Mr. Olmsled further says, " I now proceed to show that what he
(Moses) has written is not true. I assert in the first place, that the
first allegation in the book, that God made the Heaven, is a falsehood.
In order to determine this question, we must ascertain what Moses
meant by the word Heaven — ^he meant som'ediing — he tells us that
God made something that he caUed Heaven; and we want to know
* Qaunen on the Plenaiy Im^piration of the Scriptures, page 137..
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURB8. 51
what thai something was, that we loay determine "whethex God made
it or not Moses does not formally define the word. It could not
therefo|;e have been a new terra, or used by him in a sense different
hoia its common acceptation. "We must therefore resort to his, and
the writings of other authors of the Bible, for the purpose of ascer-
taining what was understood by the word heaven, if I do not suo-
eeed in showing that heaven was the studded firmament, then sdl the
previoos observations, and after arguments apply to the aUegation that
' God made the firmament I contend, that by the word firmament,
Moses meant ^a transparent, pliant, solid* arch or concavb over our
heads ; and that heaven was the same arch, with the sun, moon, and
stars set in it . It can .be compared to a tambord shawl; before it is
put into the frame, it is a square of white muslin only, (firmament,)
hut after, figures are worked upon it, it becomes a shawl, (heaven.)
Moses tells ud that God called the firmament heaven; they cannot
therefore be two totally distinct things ; but one must be a modifica-
tion of the otheivpK>ne the muslin, the other the tambord mu^n or
shawl. ; , -
Let us inquire for what purpose, or object Moses says this firma-
jnent was made — what ofiice it was to perform. ** Let there be a
firmament in the midst of ^e waters^"^ was, According to, Moses, one
of the fiats of the. Almighty. It does not require a knowledge of the
Hebrew to discover that the expression, ** in the midst of^* should be
rendered ** between^^* for God immediately goes on to say, " and let
h divide the ioatera from the waters,''^ Then Moses tells us that
'* God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under
the firmament from the u^o/erff which were above the firmament"
This firmament was something palpable, something solid, as the term
impprts, which was to serve, as a barrier to prevent certain waters
which were above it from a confluence with certain other waters
which were upon the earth. The same substance,' water — a liquid —
the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, not in a gaseous or vapor-
ous, but in a liquid state, that was upon the earthy and afterwards gath-
ered into seas and lakes, was said by Moses to be above, or resting
upon this firmament It must therefore have been, something solid.
This firmament, according to Moses, was perforated, over whose
openings there were gates, or windows, or trap^doors, which were
opened and shut as God chose to give' or withhold rain. In vii. 2:
€ren. Moses says: ^^The- same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened; and
what then ? *' And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty
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02 CREDIBILITT ANB ANTIQUITy OF
nigfats." Again, in viii. 2 : Gen. he says, *< The fonntain of the great
deep, and the windows of heaven were stopped ;*' and what then ?
And the rain from heaven was restrained. Again, to the same
point ; 1 Kings, 8, 35 1 *< When the heaven is shut up and there is
BO rain.** 2 Chron. 6, 36, the same, and 7, 13: <« If I i^hnt up heav-
en, and there be no rain,*' Psalm 78, 23: *< Though he had com-
manded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and
had raiqed down mscnna.'* Luke 4, 25, «< Many widows were in
Israiel in the. days ofElias, when the heaven was shut up for three
years and sit months, -when great famine was throughout all the
land.'* ' That is, there was no rain ; see James 5, 17. Are not these
quotations sufficient to prove the perforation. The Scriptures also
frequently speak of the heavens passing away, and the creation of
new heavens, and of the pillars and foundation of heaven, and of
their trembling ; but the passages which are as decisive as any other
of the main position (that heaven meant an arch,) are &e following —
Psalm civ. 2, '< Who stretch^st out the heavens as a curtain." Isa.
Ix. 22, to the saipe effect ; also xxxiv. 4 : « And the heavens shall be
rolled together as a scroll." And Kev. vi. 14: «<And the heavens
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;'* that is, heavto was
rolled up as we roll It sheet of p^er or a piece of sheet iron. What
stronger proof can you require that Moses* firmament, or heayen,
was a solid, though transparent and pliant, arch or concave. The^
sun, moon, and stars were set in .iff as gems in a coronet — water
rested upon it — itv had doors or windows, through whose openings
Ae water ran — was spread out— could be rolled up, and ^as to be
destroyed, and a new one made in its place. Ezekiel says, its like*
ness was as the color of the terrible crystal stretched forth over
their ,heads; and Josephus, a Jewish )author, held in high repute by
you all, calls it the crystaline. And lastly, its very^ame imports
solidity.
I am aware that some of you, seeing the force of this argument,
object to the common translation, and tell us that the Hebrew word
rendered Jinnameni can and should be rendered 'expanse, or expanr
sian. Let us test the correctness^ of this translation, by the same rule
that polemics adopt towards each other, viz% substituting the word
expanse for heaven, or firmament, in the passages quoted. << And
God said let there be an expanse,^^ (firmament). That must be a sin-
gular system of philosophy, which shall teach that it required a fiat
from any being whatever, for the existence of expanse or expansion;
Again, *' And God made the expanse and divided the waters which ^
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 53
were tmder the expanse from the waters which were adiove the ex-
pause." Will you be pleased to kifomi us where those waters raust
have been which were above expanse ? for Moses tells us << it was
80.^' ** And the windows of expanse were opened and stopped ;" << If
I shot up expanse and there be no rain;" ''When the expanse is
shut up and there is no rain :" <' The expanse was shut up for three
years:" '*The expanse shall pass away:" "The foundations and
pillars of expanse were shaken or trembled :" " Who stretchest out
expanse ais a curtain :" «* And the expanse shall be rolled, together as
a scroll :" ** And the expanse departed as a scroll when it is rdled
togedier." The stretching out and rolling up of expanse, its destruc-
tion and passing away, and the trembling of its pillaA, are all equally
ridiculous. We are all very^ curious to see a new expanse^ Were it
not that men of great reputation for talents and learning nsally have,
or pretend to have, faith in Moses, I shou\d feel ashamed seriously to
labor this question. I pronounce the allegation that God made the
heaven, or firmament, a falsehood ; for we know that no such thing
ever existed. But it is said that Moses was not a philosopher, and
that his object 'was not to teach us a system of physiois. His object
was surely to teach what he undertook to teach, a)id the misfortune is
^t his doctrine, or teaching, whether you call it theology or philoso-
phy, is false. Will you admit that God ever inspired a man to teach
a false system of physics? You may reply, as many have, that
Moses found the crude system in existence, and universally admitted*
Would God enjoin upon him to perpetuate it, by a record that was.
10 go down to ihe latest generations? But the truth ix, Moses was
not, properly speaking, actiqg the part of a philosopher. The as-
tronomer, for instance, treats only of the laws of thje motions of the
great orbs, which laws he has learned from observation ; and the mo-
nient he begins to talk *ibout when and how God (Theos) made them
and put them in motion, he is stepping out of his proper field and
trespassing upon the'theblo^an. The astronomer says, the planet is
of such a size, and moves in such an orbit. The theologian says,
God (Theos) made it at a certain period, and ordered it to move in a
certain orbit. Moses was therefbre, playing the part of a theologiaik
as much, w^en treating of the crisation of the earth and firmament,
as when speaking of the creation of man, and his fall. We have
shown that the account of the one. is false: and shall we then put
faith in the other ? As we cannot in this latter instance, as in the for-
mer, prove a negative, and as this is a question of fact, I ask the
qiiestion, which I shall firequently ask: on which side is the proba-
x2
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54 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUrry OP
bUity! Is it a0 prob^le that those wQnclerft4 literal facts found in
the first chapters of Genesis, actually occurred, as that Moses was
romancing ! This, as well as all other questions like it, is for the
candid, independent reader to decide.*'
The whole strength of Mr. Olmsted's argument lies, in what he
supposes to be the meaning designed by Moses to bid conreyed by
the words heaven and Jirmamefit, As the term firmament implies
solidity, Mr. Olmsted supposes that the Scriptures had Men into
the same error with Aristotle, and almost ail the ancients, who believed
the heavens to be a solid sphere to which stars are attached, and the
eardi a mountain whose roots go infinitely deep ; hence the <;ry.s-
taline of Josephiis ; hcQce the absiird reasonings of Lucretius, Pliny,
and Plutarch, against the theory of antipodes ; hence the theological
indignation' of Augustine, one bf the Fathers of the Christian Church,
who said it was opposed to the Scriptures ; and hence the scientific
eloquence of Lactantius, who believed it to be contrary to good sense.
'* Num aliq«id loquunt^r !" exclaims he ; is any one so simple as to
believ^ that there aire, men with their feet ^ibove their head^, trees hav-
ing fruits hanging upward; rain, snow, and hail falling upward!
^ To answer you," he says, '' they pretend the earth is a globe."
One knows not whi^t to say of such men, who once in an error, engulf
themselves in their folly, and maintain absurdity by absurdity."
Hence, also the treatment of the unfortunate bishop Vergilius by
Pope Zachary ; «» If it he proved," writes the Pope, " that Vergilius
maintains, that there are other men under this earth, assemble a
council, condemn him, drive him from the church, and depose him
from the priesthood!" hence the indignation of the imposing council
of Salamanca, at the geographical system by which Christopher
Columbus was seeking a world ; and hence the great Galileo, " who
mounted," says Kepler, «* upon the highest walls of the universe^" and
who vindicated by his genius, as weU as by his telescope, the unknown
and condemned system qf Copernicus, at Ihe age of eighty years,
groaned in the prisons of Rome,, for having discovered the movement
of the earth, after having been compelledi ten years (the 28th of June
1683,) before their highnesses in the palace of the holy office to pro-
nounce these words : ** I, Galileo, in the seventieth year of my age, on
bended knees before your eminences, having before my eyes, and
touching with my hands the holy Scriptures, I abjuse, I curse, and I
detest the error of the earth's movement"
But the Scriptures contain no such errors, nothing contradictory to
that which aflter so many .ages, the investigations of the scientifie
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THE C^J) TESTAMENT SCKIPTUftES. M
woild have jrevealed to as as sure, eoncerning the state of our globe
and of the heavens.
All Hebrew scholars are agreed, that the original of the word
heat?en in the sentence which Mr! Olmifted has rashly asserted to be
a AJsehoodt (ihamayim) is in 'the plnrak, therefore the literal render-
ing of the passage is not, «* la the beginning God created the heaven,''
bat the heavens. It is also agreed that the word rdb'ft, which by the
Seventy was translated firmament,' and imports solidity, and which
was followed by our translators, signifies expanse, or space. Dr.
Clark say^s, that, <« by following the firmamentum of the Vulgate, our
translators have deprived this passage of all sense and meaning.*' Mr.
Collyer says, «' On the secdnd di^, God made an expansion, for so
the Hebrew word, which our translators hate rendered firmament,
implies." And Mr. Gaussen, an accomplished scholar, whose avo-
cations, fbr years, have led him to the critical study of the Hebrew
Scripturefl says, '* The heavens in the Bible are the expanse^ and not
the firmamentum of St. Jerome, nor the eighth heaven, firm, solid,
erystiline, and incorruptible of Aristotle." He farther says, ^* Al-
though the Hebrew term, so remarkable, occurs seventeen times in
the Old Testament, and the Seventy have rendered it seventeen tinges
firmamenij never have the Scriptures of the New Testament used
this expression of the Greek interpreters in this sense." What ren-
ders this the more striking is the fact, that the writers of the New
Testament quoted altogether from the Seventy.*
From what has been stated, it is evident that Moses could not have
believed what we term the firmament to be " a solid arch or concave,"
and the heaven (heavens) that '< solid arch" <' with the sun, ipoon,
and stars, set in it as gems in a coronet." Toconfirm the truth of
his assumption, Mr. Olmsted further asserts, that '< according to
Moses, this firmament was perforated, over which there were gates, or
windows, or trap-doors ; and to prove the trutli of this assumption,
he quotes a number of passages from Moses and the other writers of
the Scriptures ; but, he forgot that these passages speak poetically, but
precisely the language' rf appearances; he forgot, that in order to
be understood by men, God must stoop to their feebleness; but it
should be remembered that to stoop to it, i\i not to partake of it, and
the passages in question exhibit the condescension of Almighty God,
« i' J
* In Job xxxviL 18, it is Mid, <*Hatt thoa with him spread out the sky, which is
strong, ind as a molten looking-glass 1" This passage, says Mr. Gaussen, should
have been translated, ** Hast thou made with him an expanse for the fixed stars,
pure andbriUianttM a molten mirror.'*
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M CREDIBILITY ANP ANTIQUITY OF
but not the ignorance of the Author of the Bible. Is it still urged thst
the passage implies solidity and perforation, where it is said, *< The
tame day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the
windows of heaven were openeelP'^ When there is a severe and
long continued drought, what is more common than for men of litera-
ture and science to say, the heavens a^e as brass ; but who would
infer from this, that such men believe the heaven to be a solid, brazen,
arch ? They would be viewed as 'simply speaking the language of
appearances. As Mr. Olmsted appeals to the other writers of the
Bible to ascertain the meaning of Moses, we may be permitted to imi-
tate his example ; Jeremiah says, '< When he uttereth his voice, there
is a multitude of waters in the heavens, aad he causeth the vapors to
ascend from the ends of the earth ; and he maketh lightnings with
rain." In this passa^, so far from the rain being atUibuted to the
opening of trap-doors in a solid arch over our heads, it is attributed to
the ascension of vapors from the earth through the expansion, or cir-
cumambieqt air, to the upper region of the heavens, where it con-
denses in the form of clouds, and finally re^ms to the eardi ; and is
not this in perfect accordance with the discoveries of modem science?
Mr. OLmsted quotes Ezekiel, to prove tlie truth of his allegation ;
he says, «' Ezekiel says, its likeness was. as the color of the terrible
crystal stretched over their heads." The other remarks of Mr.
Olmsted on this subject may have proceeded from ignorance, but this
attempt to deceive superficial observers, seems like will(ul malignity,
for it cannot be supposed that he had not sufficient discernment to
discover the language clearly indicates, that the 'likeness consisted^
not in the solidity, but in the cohr of the heavens. And ^ must
acknowledge that the passage is a beautiful and true description df
their appearance, when not a cloud can be seen.
Mr. Olmsted makes himself merry at the idea of God*s creating
an expansion or atmosphere, and he is curious to see a new one.
When he shall prove that the expansion, or atmosphere, exists neces-
sarily, and from eternity, and consequently is God, we may perad-
venture participate in his mirth ; but until he shall' succeed in this, by
such exhibitions, he only shows his folly.
Mr. Olmsted inquires, '« Will . you admit that God ever inspired a
man to teach a false system of physics !" So far from making such an
admission, it is heartily conceded, that if it can be shown there is in
the Bible one physical error, that book cannot be the word of God ;
for God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he
should mistake. Therefore ** God," could not ** enjoin upon Moses
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THH OLD TESTAMENT SdaPTURES. 57
to perpetaale" efxor '^by a record that was to go down to the latest
generations. Mr. Olipsted says, <' Moses was not, properly speak-
inf , scting the part of a philosopher/' This is true ; for his great
ni^efBt was to reveal to gnil^ men the Transcendent One, and not
liie barren secrets of that which perishies ; yet we dare to challenge
Ike adversaries to produce one physical error from, not merely the
writings of Moses, but from the entire Bibl^. It is further maintained,
that nnder the simplicity of the language of the Bible, much laient
science is concealed ; and that when its language is attentively re-
garded, it often happens, that a glin^pse of knowledge is obtained
wlikb it is not aiming to teach. Not only does it never say any thing
felse, eroi incidentally, but the candid and honest reader will frequent-
ly light upon words which shall betray to him the voice of the world's
Creator. There will be found in it a prudence, a wisdom, an exact-
ness, of which the past ages had no suspicion, and which the discov-
eries alone of the telescopct of modern calculation, and modem sci-
enee, have enabled U8 to appreciate.
When Mr. Olmsted chaiiged the writers of the Bible with a false
system of physics, and represented them as teaching that the heavens
are a solid ardi, with the sun, and moon, and stars set in it as gems
in a coronet; did he know that the Scriptures intimate the earth
is a ▲ ei;OBE, and that they suspend it upon nothing? Isaiah says,
«• He sitteth on the circle of the earth ;"* and Job says, «« He
stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the
earth npon no/Amg."t Did he know, that although the gravity of the
air was unknown until the days of Galileo, the Scriptures teU us that at
the creation, God gave the air rfs weight, and to the waters their just
measure ? Did he know that when treating of the mountains and
valleys, the Scriptures speak as a geological poet of the present day
would do ? *' The mountains were liAed up, O Lord, and the valleys
Were abased in the place which thou hadst assigned them." Did he
know that two great facts,' the one in relation to the crust of the earth,
and the other in relation to the waters which it covers, which Icmg were
vnknown to the learned, but are rendered incontestable by the discov-
eries of modem science, 'are confirmed . by the Scriptures ? They
teach us that while its surface gives us bread, beneath it is on firs ;
and as the cause oi the deliTge, they say, '' The same day were all
tiie fountains of the great deep brpken up."j: Did he know that he
who spake as never man spake, and in whom knowledge ii a profound
•U.ZL22. tJob,xxvL7. :^Geii.viL3.
8
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58 CREDIBILrrY AND ANTIQUITT OF
abysSf treating of tiiat day when the Lord shall come, in the twinkling
of an eye, incidentally gives his testimony to the rotation of the earth,
and the existence of. antipodes; for he represents that solemn and
august event as bursting upon one portion of mankind.in the evening,
upon another in the night, and upon another in the day. ** In that
day he which shall be upon the house-top, apdhis stuff in the house,
let him not conie down to take it away." ([it Was the custom of the
Jews, as it is of the Orientals of the present day, during the cool of
the evening to retire to the house-tops. . Their houses were differently
constructed from ours, as. may be seen from the annexed engraving.]}
<< I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed, one
shall be taken and the other shall be left ; . two women shall be
grinding together, the one shall be td^en and the other left.^' [[The
intelligent reader, need not be informed, that in the east the females
ground the grain for the use of ^ir respective families upon hand-
mills, and that this duty was' performed by them at the dawn of
each day.] *< Two men shall be in the field, one shall, be taken
and the other lef^.'^ Thus, without aiming to teach the diurnal
revolution of the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of his second
coming, which will be so sudden that it is compared to the twinkling
of an eye ; as bunting upon one portion of mankind in the evening,
on another in ^e night, on another at the dawn of light, and on
another in the day. Did he know that when speaking of the stars,
instead of numbering them at 1000, as does the catalogue of Hippar-
chus, or of Pt(^my,F the Scriptures pronounce them innumerable ; '
that, like Herschel, they compare them to the sand of the sea, and say
that God hath sown them with his own hand, like dust in infinite
ipace} and that notwithstanding their numbers, '< he calls them all by
their names." Did he know that when the Scriptures relate that the
sun was arrested in the days of Joshua^ according to them, the moon
must also stay her progress in the same degree ? a precaution, says
Chaubard, the geologist, that an astronomy ignorant of our diurnal
motion would never have imagined. Surely Mr. Olmsted was igno*
rant of the wisdom and exactness of the sacred Scriptures when he
twitted us with the assertion, that the teachings of Moses are false,
and represented him and the other writers of the Bible as teaching,
with the ancient heathen 'philosophers, that th^ heavens are a solid
arch to which the stars are attached. There is no physical error in
the Scriptures ; and this great fact is a striking proof that they were
dictated to their writers by God himself.
Mr. Olmsted says, «< The tot chapter of Genesis does not seem
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TBB OLD TSSTAMENT 8CRIPTURB8. Ql
10 be eoaecHy understood either \ij ike infidelB or christians. They
appear to be under the iinpressioii that Moses is to be understood as
asserting that the order of creation (XMrfesponded with that of his nar-
ration. Hence, says the infidel, Qod did not, according to Moses,
make the sun and stars till the fourth day ; and thai he asks, how
eould there haye been day and night preyioosly— and the christian
cannot answer him. In ttie first verse, Moses lays down die general
position that Qod made the hea?en and the earth, the partionkn of
which creation or generation he is about to gire. He then makes
another general assertion in the 8d and 4th verses, respecting light and
its ^vision, in these words, *' And Ood said let there be light, and
ibere was light." ** And God saw the light that at was good, and
God divided the light from tha darkness." Into what and how mxay
portions he divided the Kght, we are not told, until we arrive at the
14th verse. After &is general statement, respecting light, he* pro*
eeeds to speak of the firmament and the division of the waters. The
following arrangement would have been, more lucid, which the chrisW
ians may adopt if they please ; I am indifferent about it. Cpmmenc*
ing at the 3d verse and reading in the following order : ^*And God said
let there be light, and there was light;" then tl^e6. and 7. 4. 5. 14.
15. 16. 17. 18. 8. 9. la 1}. 12. chaoging the word lightifin the
14th, 15th and 16th verses, to lummarUi. By this arrangement God
does not call the firmament, heaven, until he sets the son, moon, and
stacra in it. However, as before said, I am perfectly indifferent about
it, my object at present being to ascertain what Moses meant by the
word day. The learned christians and Jews of ancient days under-
slood, and the uideamed, of the present day, yet understand and
believe, that the word dat/t in this chapter, meant what wa mean
by it in common pailance, viz. twenty-four hours, or the tune of the
apparent revolution of the sun around the earth* But the geological
christians of the present day, tell us Moses meant no such thing,
and that the proper translation of the Hebrew word, instead of (2ay,
should be epoch or period $ for by their researches, the geologists
have ascertained that the earth . must have existed ages and ages, or
epochs upon epochs, before Adam is s^d to have been created.
In order fo test the propriety of this; translation, let us substitute the
expression, epoch o/Hx thmaand yean^ for the word day^ whenever
it occurs in this first chapter of Genesis, sometimes caUed Moses' cos*
mogpny. GeologistB agree, that each epoch may have been, at leasti
nx thousand yeatsl
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19 CBEBIBILITT AND ANTIQUITr OF
«< And God called the light an pfoch, of iix thousand yearSf and
die darkness he called night"
«<And the erening and the moming weie the fint qfoch of rix
thousand yearsJ*^
'«<And God saidlet there be lights (luminaries) in the firmament of
the heaven, to divide the q^och of six thousand years from the night»
uid let diem be for signs, and fbr seasons,* and for qwehs of six thaur>
4an<fy^ar«, and lor years."
'^ And Qod ^et them in the firmament of the heaven to give light
upon the earth, and to rule over the q^och of six thousand years and
over the night"
<< And God mcuie two great Inminaries, the greater to rule over the
q^eh of six thousand yeari.^^
" And God Messed the seventh epoch of six thousand years^** ^le.
This is enough. Can any man in his senses believe that Moses
did not mean by the word **day," just what we mean by it? Ai^
if it be indubitably true, as the christian geologists admit it it^
^t the earth must have existed, and vegetables and animals upon it,
myriads of years before man appeared upon it, what must we think
of this chapter of Moses, whidi nepresents God not only in the shape
of a man, but laboring, moulding clay, wearied, and resting like biii^.
We must pronounce it not only false, but a £uagQ of ^nsense a^d
ineverance that would disgrace a Hottentot"
Mr. Ohnsted, with his usual rashness, styles the Mosaic acoount
of the creation of the.wOrid, so much adipired by men of li|erataie
and science, for its beauty, simplicity, and coincidence with modem
sdenoe, **a farago of nonsense and irrevetance which would dis-
grace a Hottentot" An accurate examination of the nanatiye may
lead us to a very different conclusion. This beautiful and sublime
Harradve opens with these words, *' In the beginning God created the
heaven (heavens) and the earth ; and< the earth was without form and
void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep (or abyss) ; and
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." In this pas-,
sage we have a statement of three distinct facts,.each following the other
in a regular series. First, an absolute creation of the heavens and the
earth, which we are told took place foremost, or in th^ beginning;
when this act of creative power transpired, Moses furnishes us with
no ground upon whi;ch to hazard even a oonjectuie. Second, &e con^
dition.of te earth when it was thus primarily created, being amoc^
phous and waste, or in the words before us, <« without form and void.'*
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SORtPTHBEB. f%
Third, l3ie eaiiiest creatiye effort to redaee it from this skapelem ttid
▼old or waste condition, into a state of order and productiveness.
The spirit of Crod moved uppn the face op the waters.
. As it is stated that it was on the surface of the waters the Divine
Spirit oomhienced his operative power, the nataral and ohvious infer-
eoee to be^ ^wn from the narrative is, that .the first change of the
formless chaos, after its existence, was into a state of univiirsal aque-
ous solution. We are next informed, that this chaotic mass acquired
riiape, not imtankmeously^ but by a series of six days or oenssa-
TiOHs, (that is, epochs,) as Moses afterwards calls them/ The nap*
raiive tells us that, during the first of these days, or generatioDs, the
* Biatler of light and heat was evolved. But against this die Infidel
objects that light ^nd heat oould not exist anterior to the sun, their
great source, which is represented as not halving b^n created unlfl
the fourth day ; hence also Mr. Olmsted's absurd proposition to change
ibe arrangement of the narrative. Modem philosophy has proved
diat the sun is not the original source of light, and expositors tell us
diat the word our which isr used in the third verse, and which is now
under consideration, means that subtile, elastic matter to which, in
English, we give the name of light ; but that in the 14th verse, the
word mart is used, and that it signifies the instrument, or means»
by which light is transmitted. Mr. Good, in his Book of Nature, tells
us that ** agre^bly to the laws of gravity, the matter of light and heat,
which is the most subtile and attenuate of all material substances, must
have been evolved first*' From the narrative we learn that luminous
matter thus evolved produced light without the assistance of the son
dr moon, which were not set. in the sky, or firmament, and had no
rule until the fourth day, or generation. The light thus produced
appears to have flowed by tides, and alternately intermitted, oon-
stttuting a single day and a single nig^t of each of such epochs or
generations, whatever their length might be, of which Moses has
communicated to us no information. Here the Infidel objects, and
he says that Moses must have meant, by the term day, what ** the
learned Christians, and Jews of ahcient days, understood, and Ae
nnleanied of the present day yet understand " by it ^ Let it not be
sappoeed for a moment," says Mr. Good; ««that the term day hk die
Hebrew tongue, seems to demand a limitation to fou^and-twenty
hoars, as it ordinarily imports; for there ia no term in any language
that is used widi a wider latttode of construetion dian the Hebrew
*Qen.iL4.
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64 CREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUITY OF
jomt or its Arabic form, which is the word for day in the original." He
also B9yB that in the Hebrew "it not only denotes, as with us, half a
diurnal rcTolution of the earth, or a whole diurnal revolution, but in
many instances, an entire year, or a revolution of the earth round' the
sun ; and this not only in the prophetic writings, which are oflten*
appealed to in support of this remark, but in plain histprical narrative
as well. Thus in Exodus i^iii. 10, " Thou shalt keep this ordinance
in its season, from year to year^^ if literally rendered would be
through days of daya^ or through days upon days. ,J^d m like
manner. Judges zvii. Id, "I will give thee ten sheckels of silver hy
the year,** if stricdy rendered would be per dies, for the daySi diat
viy ** for the annual circlb of days." Again he says, concerning '
the narrative of the creation : *< After having stated in the first chap-
ter of Genesis, that the work of creation occupied a period of sue
DATS, the sam6 inspired writer, in recapitulating his statements, chap-
ter ii. 4, proceeds to tell us, '* these are," or rather, '* such were the
ecNERATioNs of the heavens and of the eardi when they were created :
' in the day Mom) that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.^
In which passage Moses distinctly* tells us that, in thjB preceding
chapter he had used the term jom bat in the sense of generation^
succession, or epoch ; while we find him here extending the same
term day to the whole hexaemeron, the entire term of time, ttrhatev^
it may be, that these six days or generations filled up." Therefore,
instead of the word used by Moses limiting us to the idea of a period
of time, so short as twenty-four hours, it naturally leads us to the
idea of a period of much more enlarged extent; and to suppose
that from the beginning, each of the periods constituted a solar day of
twenty-four hours, it is necessary to suppose that the sun and the
imtWi were set in the sky, *« to rule over the day and over the night,"
** to divide the light from the darkness,** ** and to be for signs and
for seasons, and for days and for years," on, or before, the very first
DAT or generation; but this is in direct oppositidn to the spirit and
die letter of the Mosaic narrative, which must be preserved and vin-
dicated in its integrity and sianpHdty.
The narrative tells us that, during the second day, or generation,
iSbid firmament was produced, that is, the fine fluidir, or waters, as they
are poetically and beautifiilly denominated, progressively uprose, aikl
filled the ethereal void with a vital atmosphere. That during the
diird day, or generation, the waters under the atmosphere were gath^
ered together in one place, and the dry land speared ; that is, then
the waters, more properly so called, or the grosser and compacter flu-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTCfRES. n
ids of tie general mass, were strained off, and gathered togeflier into
die vast bed of the otean, and the dry land began to make its appear-
anee, bj disclosing the peaks of the primitive mountains^ in conse-
qoence of which, as Moses informs us, during the same day or gene*
ration, ** The earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after
bis kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself;" that
is, a progress instandy commenced from inorganic matter to vegetable
organization, the surface of the earth above, as well as under the
waters, being covered with plants tod hert% bearing seeds after their
respective kinds ; thus la3ring a basis for those caibonaceous materials,
the remains of vegetable matter which, geologists inform us, are occa-
sionally to be traced in some of the layers or formations of the class
of primitive rocks, (the lowest of the whole,) without a single pai^
tide oi animal relics intermixed with diem.
The narrative informs us that during the fourth day, or generation,
€vod made two great lights ; by this expression Moses does not con-
vey the- idea that during the fourth day the sun and moon were crea-
ted out of nothing ; for this is in opposition td what he had already
stated, when he says, ** In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth:" The natural inference therefore is, that in the begim
tang he created ^e mattet of which our solar S3rstem is composed;
and it is agreed that the words '«he made two great lights," may be
. properly rendered, he ordained two great luminaries, or light bearers.
So that the meaning of the narrative evidendy is, that the matter
composing the sun and the moon, having gradually undergone a simi-
lar process with that of the earth, on the fourth day they were com-
pleted, and they appeared in the heavens. The s^ar S3rstem being
now finished,- apd its laws established, Ae celestial orrery was put
into play ; in consequence of which the harmonious revolutions of
signs, and of seasons, of days, and of years, struck up for the first
time iheir mighty symphony.
The narratite tells us that, during the fifth day, or generation, "the
waters brought forth great whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, aft^ their kind,
and etery winged fowl after his kind;" so that this period was allot-
ted exclusively to the formation of die fowls of the air, and countless
fribes of aquatic creatures ; and consequendy to that of those lowest
ranks of animal Hfe, testaceous worms, corab, and other zoophytes,
whose relics, geologists inform us, are alone to be traced in the
second class of rocks, or transition formations ; these being the only
animals as yet created, since the air and the water; and the npper-
w2 9
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66 OBBDIBILITY AM) ANTIQUITY OF
most peaks of the mountains were the only parts as yet habitaUe.*
The narrative further tells us, continuing the same grand and exqui-
site dimaz, that towards the close of this p^od, the mass of waters
having sufficiently retired into the deep bed appointed for them;
the sixth and concluding period was devoted to the formation of ter-
restrial animals; aiid last of all, as the masterpiece of the whole, to
that of man himself. Such is the beautiful, but literal, progression of
the creation, according to the Mosaic account, as every one must per-
ceive who will carefully peruse it for himself."!
Mr. Olmsted objects to the term epoch ; and to test the propriety
of the translation, he substitutes the expression ** epoch of six thou-
sand years" for the word day; and proceeds to give a false repre-
sentation of the views of this subject as held by those he calls «' geo-
logical Christians.^' A little explanation, however, may jdace this
subject in a very different light For this purpose it is necessary to
remark, 1st Christian Geologists are not agreed that each epoch may
have been at least six thousand years, as Moses, their only authori^,
has given them no information concerning the duration of each of the
generations, or epochs. 2nd. It has already been stated, that in He-
brew the word day is not only used to signify a half, and « whole diur-
nal revolution of t^e globe, but it also signifies a year ; and that Moses
applies the word not only to each of the six days, or generations, but
also to the entire term of time, whatever it may have been, that these
six days or generations filled up. 8d. It is agreed by expositers, that
where in our version it is said : " And the evening and the morning
were the first day ;'* the passage should have been rendered, *< And
there was dusk, and there was dawn the first day." From this ex-
{^anation it will be perceived that Mr. Olmsted grossly misrepresents
the ** Christian geologist," by asserting that he believes €k>d called
the light an epoch of six thousand yeara^ He believes that God
called the light day, in a certain sense of the word which, as has been
shown, admits of various applications ; and in the sense in whidi it
is here used, it signifies that period during which light shines upon
the earth, and by no means necessarily confined to the space of twen-
ty-four hours.
Moses informs us that during each of the days^ generations, or
epochs, there was dusk, and there was dawn ; of the extent of those
* Moees ascribes to birds and fishes a common origin ; and it is well known to
naturalists, that between these two classes intimate relations exist, imperoeptible to
Ihe eye, bat revealed by anatomy.
t^ea Good's Book of Nature, page 76.
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TH£ OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTUBE& 67
wUeh ]nreoecled the display of the snn and the moon in the sky, as
already obaerred, he gives no infonnation* We only know that the
flow of luminous matter, which measured them, advanced, or was kin-
dled up hy regular tides; so that it alternately appeared and disap-
peared, commencing With a dawn, and terminating with a dusk or
darkness ; for a( the close of each, it is said, ** and there was evening
and there was morning the first day,*' or more literally, there tooM
duik and there woe daum. Whatever may have been' the relative
proportion of the times and the seasons, the light and the darkness,
subsequently to the fourth day, or generation, when the sun and the
moon were completed, Moses gives us no reason to suppose that they
pccorred in the same prop<ntion antecedently to that period. But he
tells us, that they were set in the sky to rule those divisions of time,
as they have ruled them, with a single miraculous epcception or two,
ever since ; and to divide the light from the darkness, as it has been
divided ever since. Whether the days from the fourth period, viz, the
filUi and the sixth, were of a different length from any of the prece-
ding, which may also have differed from each other, or' whether they
were strictly diurnal revolutions, it is impossible to determine. But
to the plain and attentive reader of the Mosaic account, even these
two last days must appear to have been of a far more protracted
length than that of twenty-four hours, and for the following reasons.
On the sixth and last day or generation, Moses informs us all the
land i^umals aCker their kind, catde^ and wild beasts, and reptiles were
created, and then, Adam himself, but alone; who, as we learn from
ch. ii. 15 — ^22, was taken and put into tiie garden of Eden, to dress U^
and keep Us where he had explained to him the trees he might eat of,
and the trees he might not; after which, were brought to him every
beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, that he might make him-
self acquainted witii their respective natures, and to all of whom he
gave names as soon as their respective characters became known to
him. And after this he was plunged ii^to a deep sleep, when tiie wo-
man wai( formed put of^a part of himself; and it is difficult to con-
ceive, witiiout a miracle, of which we have no intimation, how Adam
eould have got through the vast amount of work assigned to him in
the brief space of twelve or fourteen hours. But whatever condu-
mons may.be arrived at concerning the length of the two last days or
generations, cannot affect the integrity of the Mosaic account of the
ereation, as the discoyeries of geology shed no lij^ht whatever upon
diis subject.
Mr. Olmsted sneers at this beautiful and sublime narrative, and tri-
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M CREDIBIUTT AND AimQUITY OF
nmphantly inqoiTes, *< what must we think of this chapter of Moses
whidi represents God not only in the shape of a man, hut kboring,
moulding day, wearied and resting like him ?" A general answer to
all such objections as this was given in the preceding section of this
work» But it may be necessary to remark, that Moses does not, in
the chapter referred to, represent God ''tn the shape cf a man;^* and
surely no one who considers the noble account there given of the
creation, that God is represented as having only spoken and it was
done, can reasonably imagine that Moses represents the Almighty as
laboring like a man, that he was tured with that labor, as though he
had moulded every thing with his hands, and that he lay or sat. down
for rest If any doubts remain concerning the true' meaning of
Moses, it can be ascertained by appealing to some one of the other
writers of the Old Testament Scriptures, as Mr. Olmsted himself has
done, to ascertain what he meant by the word heaven. And Isaiah
says, " Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everhtst*
ing Gorf, the creator of the ends of the earthy fainteth not, neither
is weary?" Now what must we think of this Infidel, who says of
the sublime narrative which has been under consideratiop, th^t it is
'^not only false, but a (iarago of nonsense and irreverence that would
disgrace a Hottentot? " Are we not forcibly reminded of that saying,
" Where angels tremble, fools rush in T "
The infidel Taylor and others have urged against the credibility
of the Mosaic account of the creation, that the human race has a
much higher antiquity than Moses represents,, and they found their
argument on the zodiacs in the temples of Latopolis dnd Tentyra,
two ancient cities in the upper Egypt The argument is rested on
a great astronomical fact, the precision of the equinoxes. The
equinoctial and solstitial points, do not invariably occupy the. same
places in the ecliptic, but have a retrograde motion of about 50^"
degrees in a year ; by which they will accomplish a revolution in
about 25.750 years. Now, in the zodiac of Latopolis, the modem
Esneh, we are told that Leo is represented as the last of ihe ascend-*
ing signs, and it is asserted that a sphinx there represents the sun at
the summer solstice, just in the point where the last degree of Leo
meets the first degree pf Virgo. But at present the colure of the
summer solstice is in the first degree of Gemini; and therefore it is
inferred, that as the space between ihe first degree of Gemini and the
last degree of Leo, is to the whole of the ecliptic, so must the period
elapsed since the construction of the zodiac of Latopolis be to 25.750
years. To this Mr. Fergus, in his work on the Testimony of Nature
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THE OLD TEOTAMENT BORIPTURBB. M
and Rdigion, gives Ae Mowing r^ly: ^TbiM inference woold no
donbt be consequentially drawn, if it were proved that the above was a
tme ezplanati<m of the xodiac of Latopolia, and that thai zodiac was
a eonreet pietnre of the heavens at the time of its formatioQ. Bat on
these points donbts and suspicions crowd m upon us. Plutarch and
M acrobius w^old have been surprised and amused to hear the sphinx
spoken of as an emblem of the sun. The Egyptians, it is true, wor-
shiped that Inmmary oader different names and S3rmbds ; but the
sphinx was not one of them. To imagine then that diif sy^ibol rep-
resents ihe sun, is a gratoitons and unauthorized assumption.
Besides there is no good reason to believe that the zodiac of Lato-
poKs was a correct picture of die heavens at the time of its formation.
Ahhongfa we allow the highest praise to the genius and industry of
ancient astronomers, yet it cannot be denied that their instruments
were rude and elnmsy, and many of their .observations inaccurate.
They erred more than half a degree in the latitude of Syene, a place
at no great distance from Latopolis; and does this encourage the pre*
sumption that they were qualified to give a correct delineation of the
zodiac? The Egyptians were, moreover, very vain, and boasted of a
high antiqility. After the days of Hipparchu^, might they not give false
represenliations of the heavens with a view to countenance this vanity?**
Dr. Ridiardson, who examined the drawings . in these temples,
thinks that it requires a good deal of imagination to make them zodi-
acs ; and some late interpreten of the hierogliphics make them die work
of Roman emperors, "[(^hat of Tentyra, the modem Dendera, by M.
IieIoiieiea,ha8 been removed from the temple of Isis, there, to Paris.
FVom the inspection of the annexed plate of it, it is believed the reader
will agree with Dr. Richardson that it requires a considerable stretch of
imagination tQ make this a zodiac. But supposing that it is, it will be
seen that what has been taken for Leo is not represented as the last of
the ascending, but as the first of the descending signs. And this shows
diat at least 6he of these zodiacs is posterior to the time of Hipparchus.
For if one of diese zodiac^ represents Leo as the last of die ascendiBf
and the other as the first of the descending signs, (supposing them to
be correct,) this is a demonstration that the solstitial, and consequendy
the equinoctial points are movable. But this, as is well known, was
the grand discovery of Hipparchus ; a discovery in no degree owing
to die zodiacs of Latopolis and Tentyra, but made by comparing his
own observations with those of Arystellus and Temochares about one
hundred and fiilVy years before. Hipparchus diligei^tly inquired into
an the observations of the Chaldean and Egyptian astronomera ; but
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fO CREDIBIUTT AND ANTtQUmf OF
although it is probabfe that the former of these nations cultivated
astronomy before the latter, yet he could find no observations t)iat
had been made at Babylon, previous to the reign of Matonassar, seven
hundred and forty«seven years before Christ. Berozns, a Chaldean,
who lived about three hundred years belbre the Christian era, knew of
no monuments of Chaldean astronomy more ancient than four hun-
dred and eighty years before his time ; and neither Hipparchus nor
Ptolomy ever heard of observations for nineteen hundred and three
years, transmitted by CaUisthenes to Aristotle, about the year 381»
before Christ Lemplicius, a peripatetic philosopher, and commenta-
tor on Aristode, who lived in the sixth century of the Chruitian era,
makes mention of such oblwrvation^.; but his authority, and that of Poi^
phyry, from whom he borrowed the story, are too modem to be enti-
ded to any regard. In shor^ these supposed zodiacs were unknown
to Hipparchus ; and if they had existed in his time, they would not
have escaped the notice of that carefid observer and indefatigable
inquirer. To th«n he would have appealed, as well as to the obser-
vations of Arystellus and Timochares, in proof bf the procession of the
equinoxes. But it is unnecessary to dwell upon the subject, for there
is no evidence that the Egyptians had zodiacs, with our signs,, and
names, before the establishment of the Greeks in diat country.
This vindication of the Mosaic account of the creation, cannot be
better closed, than by the following* very judicious remarks of Dr.
Keith in his demonstration of the truth of Christianity. «• Astrono*
mers have written on '•• the construction of the heavens,'' «< the archi-
tecture of the heavens," * while geologists have described the 'succes-
sive formations in the crust of the earth. 'Moses records the creation
of the heavens and of the earth. Their conjoint subjects are the
same as his.
Astronomers have designated the first and the rudest form in which
matter is visible, as nebulosities and nebxdm^ i. e., cloudiness and
efou(f, and have termed their component substance the nebulous (or
cloudy) fluid. And how else could watefs ttnthout form and void^
or vapory and uncondensed, be m0re appropriately designated!
The nebulosities are without form, and diffuse or void. And so also
were the heavens and the earth, after the light rendered them visible.
As exhibited by the' great brightness in some parts, and extreme faint-
I in others, of the same nebulosity, the light may be seen divided
* The reader u n)eciaUy referred to the yery interesting and able woik of I>r.
Nlchol, Professor of Practical Astronomy, Glasgow University^ in which the sab-
Ject is elucidated both in a philo8<^bical and popular manner.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8GBIPTURE8. ' 71
frwti the darknesa, Jlnd there wae evening and there UHtt mom"
ing the fint da^
Aftronoraen next speak of different forms of nebulous expaneum*
And in the same nebulosity may be seen the dimnon into separate
parts of the Ijuminons fluid, or the breaking up of the whole amor-
I^oos or shapeless mass. Jnd there was an esepanaionj or ftmuh
meni, in the nUdat of the heaioena^ and the waters were divided
from the watere. And there woe evening and there woe morning .
the second day.
The gradual condensation of the nebuln, as seen in every form,
gives evidence o^ the recognised and universal law of gravitation;
the centripetal (centre-seeking) forces as Sir Isaac Niewton termed it
And the ^at modern master of the higher geometry, who has trod
&rthest in the path in which Newton first led, and who was so versant
.with the motions of the planets as to trace them by a profound saga*
d^ to an origin befitting the majestic and divine simplicity of the
laws which regulate them, has shown how, as affecting our globe and
every other, the waters were gaUiered together, inio one-plaoey and
the earth was consolidated*
And as the dry land appeared, the task of geologists begins. To
the oldest of formations they have given the title (not undispuled) of
primitive rock ; and with the magic wand of truth they have brought
back again, after the lapse of thousands of years, the springtbne of
our earth, and showed how it was clothed with the luxuriance tod
decked with the beauty of paradise itself. They more than restore
Ae grass, and the herb, and the fruiUtreey which the fancy of man
never thought of, and the eye of man never looked on as they grew.
Jind there was evening and there was morning the third day.
Geologists having shown us the beauty of the earth, while yet un-
Uighted because of sin, astronomers invite us to look up again to the
heavens and ^ee how the nebulous fluid, gradually condensed to a far
narrower space than the orbit of the earth, is consolidated into a «tm»
and, only slightly tinctured with nebulosity, shines a light in the
firmament of heaven; while, in like manner. La Place illustrates how
Ihe fionnation of the moon also was necessarily posterior to that of
the earth. Aiid, together with ouil sun, the other stars of our firma-
aent were, by the operation of the same word of God or law of na^
toie, simultaneously fqrmed. And there was evening and there was
morning the fourth day.
Geologists again t^ up the task and tell of a tim&— the fifth day,
defined like the rest by the succession of light and darkness, but also
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72 ' CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OF
of undefined duration, and succeeding that of the origin of vegetables,
and preceding that of terrestrial animals, whether wUd or domesticvv-
when the waters were filled with living creatures, and the air tenanted
with birds: and they bring forth from the depositories which the God
of nature has formed, those amphibious animals, or race of marine
saurians, which ihey also designate by the name which the original
Scriptures a^ign them in their precise charteter, magnitude, multipli-
city, and place, ^nd there was evening and there woe mdming the
J^hday.
And, lastly, the tertiary or latest formations (except those of di-
luvial or more recent volcanic depositee), succeeding the age of rep-
tiles, and piieceding that of man, set forth finally to view the beasts
of the earth, and the cattle, and every creeping thing afler^their gene-
ra or kinds, till the whole work of animal creation was finished.
And by a separate ^d last act of creative power, magnified as stich,
the topstone^ once pointing to heaven, was formed and put over the
whole earthly fabric; and the work of creation here below was'
crowned by that of man, when, though formed of the dust,' the Lord '
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul. And God saw everything that he had made, and^ behold^ U
was very good. And there was evening and there was morning the
sixth day.
The following diagram from Phillips's Geology (p. 44) wffl con-
vey an idea of the relative position and order of succession of unstre-
tified rock gg*, of the primary strata ed, of the secondary cby and
of the tertiary a {t trap).
Comparing these independent accounts^ respectively written at the
interval of three thousand years, and guarantied by observations of
the heavens and demonstrations in the earth, may we not conjoin the
last verse of the first chapter of Genesis with the first verse of the
seibond, and emphatically say. Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished^ and dU the host of them.* And whose word is this but
that of their Creator.
* Without any tpedal regard to the tcnptnral ddSnitum of the term da^, Chxi**
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THE OLD TTB8TAMBNT BCRIPTURBS. 7»
The stars af ovr firmment wn indeed « ho9tf of which a stmdl
part only is seen by the unaided human eye. Astnmomers, so far as
th^ can, ba^ve shown its fomn, so as best to accord with and explahi
the appearance of the heavens. Btit he who from the beginning told
man of their creation, can alone name them by their names, as he
created them by his word, and brings tfaem forth in their ordor.
Ab4 irom a difibsed n^tdosi^, waters withont form and Yoi4y spread
throughout an inconceivable immensity of spare, to a numberiess
doster of stars, as ^we read- die word of Ood and look on the opw-
atioB of his hands, the heavens declare the glory of Ood, and the
firmament showeth his handiwork. But the law, also, of Ae Lord
is perliMt, cotiTerting the soul ; the Ustimmy of the liord is swe^
making wise the simple.
The heavens are our witnesses ; eai^ is fid of onr depositories;
troth most spring op where the Creator hath sown it; and philotb-
phers at last must be its tributaries. The Christia^ir may well rejoioe
in the progress of science, and gladly give it a ftee and nniettored.
conrse« Knowledge shall be the stability of thetimeq of the Messi^
ah ; and .the mind of maofi, enlightened in the knowledge of the.woiEd
and works of God, shall be freed from the nebulosity which en««
sfaronds it, and the light shall be divided frpm the darkness. And
then shdl the- greatness of his works be seeui and the truth of hili
word be made manifest
But although, compared to that fuU flood of li^t, only the flist
finsb of dawn may^seem to be arising qowover all the subjects before
us,'wbence, we ask, came this light, Were it far £unter dian il is?
Is it- not enough to scare away the children of ^rkness iroat the field
tian wriierB, flsnce tke dfeys of Athanaans, hnve te^ttMYf interpreted the daya of
aealkm aa periods of undefined duration. The modem hypothesis is supported by
great names, "which supposes the word, 'beginning,' v^ applied by ^oses in the
fint Tcne of the Book of Genesis, to express an ondehned period of time wkid^
s<as antecedent to the latt great change that aQecteji the soifiice of the earth." But.
^ record itself does not seem to be limited to this h»t great change, nor even to
the creation of the earth alone, exchisive of the heavens. The earth is described as
wkUumU farm and vtfid, which ia apparently, if not obviously, fiital to the idea of .
anterior formations. On the second day the firmament was made, whjch God call-^
ed heaven. On the fourth day (and not before Uie first) God made the amiylhe
moon, and thfe atars, and set them in the firmament tif lieavao. , And after the wn
eoid of the ^ork of the sixth and all the preceding days, it is said, T^ius the keav-
eha mnd the earth were Jinished, and att the hoet of them. And on the tevetitii
doyOod ended his work which he bad made, dec And it i&addedt Thoie SRse th^'
generations of the^heavena ahd of the earth, when they were^created^ in the day that
the Lord God made the eaitH and the heavens. 1^ manifestly does the creation of
the heavens and of the eaith,'fr«iik vritera without fefm and void» to the iiaita a&
heaven in their order, seem to be Incladed, aocoirding to express declaration, in the
Moaaie Record.
6 iq
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74 CKEDIBILrrY AND ANnQUTTY OF
which they have assumed as t)ieur own ? What inyention of man ev- ^
er hore a similitude to truths ever previously unknown and only
newly discovered, like that very record which sceptics have assailed?
And how are all imaginative cosmogonies of former ages swallowed
up by that of Moses, as were the rods of the Egyptian magicians by
that of Aaron T Can our great calculators tell what is the sttm of thei
improbabilities that such an analogy, if not founded on fact, would
have subsisted or could betraced from first to last between the obser-
vations of Sir W. Herschel, the opinions of La Place, the accumula-
ted and classified discoveries of geologists, and the short and simple
record of Moses ? Before Herschel handled a telescope, pr La Place
had studied the laws of planetary motion, or Guvier had touched a
fossil bone, what Vulcanist, or Neptunist (combating whether the
crust of the e^rth was of aqueous or igneous origin), or other unin-
spired mortal, could have described the order of auccessionf in the
creation of the heavens- and of the earth, and marked in six succes-
sive periods the rank of ea^ch, in so close conformity vrith the recent
cdscoveries both of astronomy and geology, when the name of sci-
ence can be attached to Aese words, like the man who, three thou-
sand years ago, could humanly know nothingH)f either from the mud
of the Nile or frbm the sands of the desert? What man on earth,
from the begmnin^ of the creation, ever recorded its history with
such conformity to existing observations and discoveries, as did he of
whom the Scripture saith, God made known ki$ waye vnto Moses f
And has not this word its visible illustration in the first page of the
Pentateuch, as well as in every prophecy which lie uttered?
And may we not finally ask whether the tesiimonyt borne by the *
fate of the Jews and by the desolation of Judea, &at Moses was a .
prophet of the Highest, be not repeated by the record of the creation*
and also, most slightly as we have |rlanced ^t either* by the whole
Mosaic history and dispensation ? In contending for the faith on any
ground, to which our adversa|ies bring us, it is not enough that our
eause pass seathless. When Nebuchadnezzar cast the faithfiil ser^
vants of the Lord into the seven-times heated fiery furnace because
they would not worship a golden image, and when they came out un-
injured by the fire that slew those iMrho touched them, the king's word
was indeed changed ; and he blessed the God of Israel, and issued a
decree that none should speak anything against their God, " because
thiere is no other God that could deliver afler this sort" And when
the Scriptures come forth uninjured from the fire which slays those
who touched them, may not the words of those be changed who
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THE OLD TESTAMENT BCBIPTURBa 79
speak against the Bible ? may it not be receiv^ where be&re it was
ndieuIecU and be studied where fonneriy it was slighted? And maj
not erery golden idol be abandoned for the worship and service of the
Creator of heaven and of earth, as whose word the Bible is, approved;
not only because it has passed unhurt through the fiery ordeal to
which the idolaters of blinded reasoQ subjected it, but because it is
thus manifest that no -uninspired man could have written after this
sort, as Moses wrote ; and that no other God but the Lord by whom
he spake created the heavens and the earth, as it hath thus been told
from the beginning? ^^*
SECTION I.
It is evident that the mode of the origination of this world could
.be known to man, only by revelation from God ; and traditionary reve-
lation, which has already been referred to, comes to bur aid in prov-
ing the truth of the Mosaic account of the creation of the worlds
for traditions of this event would, if any revelation concerning it were
originally made, be handed down from one generation to another,
among all nations, gradually however becoming more and more mixed
with fable ; and it is worthy bf remark, that all those traditions that
have reached us, in oertain leading features, agree with the account
of Moses, while the absurd fab}e with which they are distorted, con-
trssied with the grandeur, unadorned simplicity^ and coincidence with
science and natund philosphy, of the Mosaic account, will enable us
easily to detect them as die corrupted traditions. These traditions are
to be found among the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Phenicians,
the Hindoos, the Chinese, Etrurians, the Goths, the Greeks, the
Romans, and even the ,^boriginal Americans,
The book of Menu which, with the Hindoos, is -of equal authority
wi& the Veda, contains the following' account of the creation.
**Menut sat reclined, with his attention fixed on one object, the
supreme God; when the divine Sages approached hinfi, and, after
mutual salutations in due form, delivered the following address :
Deign, sOYereign ruler, to apprise us of the sacred laws in their order,
as they must be followed by all the four classes, and by each of them,
in their several degrees, together with the duties of every mixed class ;
• Keith'i BmnoiMtnition of the Truth of the Ghrittian Religion, pp. 144—148.
fABshndystt^ed, Sir W. Jones identifief Menu ^th Nosh.
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96 csasmsiLvrY aitd ahtiquttt of
for ikoo, Lord, and thou oiily among mortals, knoweat the trae sense,
Ifae first principle, and the prescribed ceremonies, of this universal,
snpemataral Veda, unlimited in «a:tent and imequalled in authority.
He. whose powers were measureless, being' thus requested by the
^eat Sages, whose thoughts were profound, saluted them all wi^ rev'-
erence, and gave ihema comprehensive answer, saying: bt it beard!
This oniveise existed only in the first divine idea yet unexpended,
a^ if involved in darkness, imperpeptible, undefinable, undiseoveca-
ble by reason, and un^coveried 'by revelation, as if it. were whoUy
immersed in sleep : then the sole self-existing power, himself undis-
cemed,.but making this world discernible, with five elements and
Other principles of nature, appeared with undiminished glory, expand-
ing his idea, or dispelling the gloom. He, whom the mind alone can
perceive! whose essence eludes- the external organs, who has no visi-
ble parts, who exists from eternity, even he, the soul of all beings,
whom no being can. comprehend* shone forth in person. He, having,
willed to produce various beings from his own divine substance, first
with a thought created the waters, and placed in them a productive
' seed : that seed became an egg bright as gold, blazing like the lumiii-
ary with a thousand beams ; and in that egg he was bom himself, in
the form of .Brahma, the grea( forefather of all spirits. The waters
are called nara, because they were the production of Nara, or the.
epirit of God ; and, since they were his first ayana, or place of mo-
tion, he thence is named Nayrayana, or movipg on the waters.
From that which is, the first cause, not the object of sense, exist-
ing, every where in substance, not existing to our perce|>tion, with-
out beginning or end, was produced the divine male, famed in all
worlds under the Appellation of Bi-^hma. In that egg the gre^t power
sat inactive a whole year of the Creator, at the close of which by his
thought. alone he caused^ the egg to divide itself; and from its two
divisions he framed the heaven above and ihe earth beneath: in the
midst he placed the subtil ether, the eight regions, and the permanent
receptacle of waters.
From the supreme soul he drew forth Mind, existing substantially,
though unperceived by sense, immaterial ; and, before mind, or the
reasoning' power, he produced consciousness, the internal monitor, Uie
ruler ; and before them both, he produced the great principle of the
soul, or first expansion of the divine idea; and all vital forms endued
with the three qualities of goodness, passion, and darkness ; and the
five perceptions of sense, and the five organs of sensation. Thus,
having^at once pervaded, with emanations from the Supreme Spirit,
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBEa 77
the miinitest portions of six principles immensely operative, con-
flcioiisness and the five perceptions, he framed all creatures ; and since
the minotest partides 6f visible nature have a dependence on those
six emanations from God, the wise have accordingly given the name
of 8*arir^ or depending on six, that is, the ten organs on conscious-
ness, and the five elements on as many perceptions, to his image or
appearance in visible nature; thence proceed the great elements,
endued with peculiar powers, the Mind with operatibna jnfinitely
sabtil, the unperishable cause of all app^nt forms*
This nniyerse, therefore, is compacted from the minute portions of
these seven divine and active principles, the great Soul, or first emana-
tion, consciousness, and five perceptions; a mutable universe from
immutable ideas. Among diem each succeeding element acquires the
quality of the preceding ; and, in as many degrees as each of them is
advanced, with so many properties is it said to be endued*
He too. firtt aligned to all creatures distinct names, distinct acts^
and distinct occupations ; as they had been revealed in the pre-exist^
ing Veda. He, the supreme Ruler, created an assemblage of inferior
Deities, with divine attributes and pure souls ; and a number of Grenii
exquisitely delicate ; and he prescritpi the sacrifice from the begin-
ning, t From fire, from air, and from the sun he milked oiit, as it were,
three prim6rdial Vedas^ named Sich, Yajush, andiSaman, for the due
performance of the sacrifice. .
He gave being to time and the divisions of time, to the stars also,
and to the planets, to rivers, oceans, and mountains, to level plains,
and uneven valleys, to devotion, speech, cotaplac^ency, desire, and
wrath, and to the creation, which shall presently be mentioned ; for
he willed the existence of all those created thing?. For the sake of
distinguishing actions, he made a total difference betweex) right and
wron^ and enured- these sentient creatures to pleasure and pain, cold -
and heat, and other opposite pairs.- With very minute transformable
portions, called matras, of the five elements, *aH this perceptible world
was composed in fit order; and in whatever occupation the supreme
Lord first employed any vital soul, to that occupation the same soul
attaches itself spontaneously, when it receives a hew body again and
again : whatever quality, noxious or innocent, harsh or mild, unjust
or just, false or true, he conferred on any being at its creation, the
same quality enters it of course on its future births ; as the six sea-
sons of the year attain respectively their peculiar marks in due time
and of their oim accord, even so the several acts of each embodied
spirit attend it naturally*
o2
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78 ORBDIBILmr AND ANTIQOITY OF
That the human race might be multiplied, he caueed Ae Br^ihniam
the Gsfaatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra (so named from the BtaAp-
tore, ptateotion, wealth, and labor) to proceed from his mouth, 1^
ann, his thigh, and his foot.
, Haying divided his own sabstaace, the mighty power beoame half
male, half female, or nature active and passive ; and from that female
he produced Viraj. Know me, O most excellent of Brahmens, to be
that person, whom the male power Viraj, hating performed aiistere
devotion, produced by himself ; Me, the secondary framer of all this
visible world. It was I, who, desirous of giving birth to a i^ace of
ipen, performed very difficult religidjis duties; and first produced ten
Lords of created beings, eminent in holiness, Marichi, Atri, Angiras,
Pulastya, Pulaha, Cratu, Pracheta^, or Dacsha, Yasishtha, Bhrigu,
and Narada; they, abundant in glory, produced seven other Menus,
together with deities, and the mansions of deities, and Maharahis, or
great Sages, unlimited in power ;' benevolent gehii, and fierce giants,
blood-thirs^ savages, heavenly quiristers, nymphs and demons, huge
serpents and snakes of smaller size, birds of mighty wing, and sepa-
Yate companies of Pitirs, oc progenitors of mankind ; lightnings and
thunder-bolts, clouds and colored bows of Indra, falling meteors,
earth-rending vapors, comets* and 'luminaries of valrjious degrees;
hbrse-faced sylvans, apes, fish, and a variety of birds,. tame cattle,
deer, men, and ravenous beasts with two rows of. teeth ; small and
large .reptiles, moths, dice, fleas, and common flies, with every biti^
gnat, and immovable substances of distinct ^orts.
Thus was this whole assemblage of .stationary and movable bodies
framed by those high-minded beings, through the force of their own
devotion, and at my command, with separate actions allotted to each.
Whatever act is ordained fpr each of those creatures here below, that
I will now declare to you, together with their order in respect to
birth.
Cattle and deer, and- wild beasts with two rows of teeth, giants, and
blood-thirsty savages, and the race of men, are bom from a secundine :
birds are hatched from eggs ; so are shakes, crocodiles, fish without
shells, and tortoises, with other animal kinds, terrestrial, as chamel-
eons, and aquatic, as shell-fish: fVom hot moisture are bom biUng
gnats, lice, fleas, and eommon flies ; the^e, and whatever is 'of the
same class are produced by heat.
Ail vegetaibles,- propagated by seed or by slips j^ow from jshoots :
some herbs, abounding in flowers and fruits, perish when the fruit is
mature ; other plants, called lords of the forest, haye no flowers, bxit
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THE 0U> TBdTAMENT 8CSIPTUBE8. T9
piodboe fruit ; and^ whether they have flowers also, or fruit only,
large woody plants of hoth sorts are named trees. There are shrubs
with many stalks from the root upwards^ and reeds with single roots
but united stems, all of different kinds, and grasses, and vi^es or
climbers, and ereepets, which' spring from a seed or from a slip.
These animals and vegetables, encircleei wi^ multiform darkness, by
reason of past actions, have internal conscience, and are sensible of
pleasure and pain.
AU .transmigrations, recorded in sacred books, froin the state of
Brahma, to that of plafits, happen continually in thic( tremendous world
of being ; a world always tending to decay. ^
He, whose powers are incomprehensible, having created both me
mad this universe,* was again absorbed in th^ supreme Spirit, change
ing the time of energy for the time of repose. When that power
awoke,* (for, though slumber be not predicable of the' sole eternal
Afind, infinitely wise and infinitely benevolent, yet it is predicated of
Brahma, figuratively as a general property of life,) tben has this worid
its full expansion ; but, i^^hen he slumbers with a tranquil spirit, then
tbe m^iole system fades away ; for, while he reposes, as it were, in
eabn sleep, embodied spirits, endued with principles of action, depart
firom their several acts, and the mind itself becomes inert ; and, when
they once are absorbed in* that supreme essence, thien the divine soul
of all beings withdraws his energy, and placidly slumbers ; then too
this vital soul of created bodies, with all the organs of sense and of
action^ remainsioug immersed hv the first idea or in darkness, and
performs not its natural functions, but migrates from its coiporeal
firame; when, being again composed' of minute elementary principles,
it enters 'at once into vegetable or animal seed, it then assumes a new
frnn. Thus that immutable Power, by waking and reposing alter-
natelyy revivifies and destro3rs in eternal succession this whole assem*
Uage of locomotive and immovable creatures.*'.*
Gontrsstthis account of the creation with that of Moses, than which.
In the language of Sir W.« Jones, •* a sublimer passage, frOm the first
word to the last, never flowed, or will flow from any human pen, and
how easy to detect the corrupted tradition." In the beginmngy 66d
created the heavemj and the earth. And the earth was. void, and
waste ; and darkness was on the face of tbe deep, and the Spirit of
God mi^ed upon tlie frM» of the waters ; and Qod said : Let light
be, and Ugkt was. How infmor the Hindoo description, and of
■ - • - - - • ' -■-
• 8ir W. Joaet, voL iii. pp. 91— lOa
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90 CHEDIBILITT AND ANTIQIJnT OF
which the Infidel falsely asserts that ijt is the original from which
the Mosaic narration was borrowed.
There are some passages in the Greek and Latin classics which
bear so close a resemblance to the narrative of Moses, that had ii
existed when the claims of revealed reli^on were not concerned, it
would have, forced the conclusion, that, his narrative had been seen hy
the wjriters. The genend opinion of the ancient Gentiles was that <
the world was made out of a preceding chaos, which they asserted to
be a xude indigested mass of matter, reduced to no shape and order.
Sanohonlathon, the' Phenician historian, so much praised by Porphy-
rus in Eusebius, makes mention of this chaos as the source of all
things, in his fragment of Phenician Theolgy. The ancient poet,
Orpheus, held that this chaos was the first principle of all things. And
Hoesiod agrees with, him, affirming that the chaos was that out of
which aU bodies 'were made.
It is described by Ovid after this manner. Before the sea, and the
earth, and the heaven, (or sky,) which covers all things, there was an
appearance of Nature, which they called chaos. This writer, in forty
or fifty good smooth verses, most, excellently describes -the origin of
all things ; and, makes the very chaos beautiful. *< Macrobius,*' says
Easebius, ** re^mbles the world to an egg, in the 7th book and- 16th
chapter of his Saturnalia, and hence the S3nrian god^ are called 4)y
Amobius, the ofiispring of eggs, by which godis he means the stars*
Orpheus states that mud proceeded from wa^r^ af\er which he men-
tions a great egg split in two parts, heaven and earth. Aristopha-
nes, in a passage penned by Lucian says. First of all was Chaos
and Night, dark Erebus, and gloomy Tartarus. There was neither
earth, nor air, nor heaven, till dusky night, by the wind's power on
^e wide bosom of Erebus, brought forth an "egg of which was hatched
the god of love, (when time began,) who, with his goldei^ wings fixed
to his shoulders, fiew like a mighty whirlwind ; and mixing with thfe
black chaos in Tartarus' dark shades, produced mankind, and brought
them into light. For, before love formed all things the very gods
themselves had no existence. But upon this conjunction, all things
being mixed and blended, either land, and sea, and earth; and the-
blessed abodes of the immortal gods."
Sanchoniathon thus represents the Phenician account of the creation :
** The first principles of the universe were a dark and windy air, (or a
spirit of dark air,) and a turbid chaos involved in darkness. These
things were infinite, and for many ages had no bounds. But when the
Spirit was affe^^ted with love towards its own principles, and a mixture
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TEE OLD TESTAMENT SORIPTUREa 61
took ptftoe^ tet donjunedoii was cnUed de$irt. Such wasthe ftegin-
Buig of the formatioii of all things. But the Spirit itself acknowledged
no formation. From this conjiinctioh of the Spirit waa formed tito/,
"which somo call mud; others, a convption, of watery mixture, and of
•this came the seed of all creatures and the generation of the universe*
Ther6 were certain animals^ which had no sense, called Zophasetmnf
thai is, the cotitempkUors of Afovm,' being formed alike in^tfae shape
of an e^: and the mud, the sun, and the moon, the stars and tfie
greater constellations, shone for^." Cndworth thinks that Sanchonia-
thoB here teaches the same doctrine with iliales, who was a Pheni*
cian by extraction, and held that wates was the first principle of all
corporeal things, which were made out of water* It is probable that
this was the opinion of the Phenician Writer, as he asserts that the
Spirit itself acknowledged no formation, that is, was uncreated*
The turbid chaos, involved in darkness, of vrhich Sanchomathou
here speaks, bears a striking resemblance to' the Mosaic account,
<^The earth Was without fcnrm and void, and darkness was upon ^e
&ee of the deep.'* Bochart observes that the word used by the trans-
lator of Sanchoniathon to express the , obsenrity of the chaos, iff ori-
ginally from the Hebrew word ereb, evening. W^^n it is said "that
die Spirit was affected with love towards its own principles, and that
tiiis was ^e beginning of the formation of all things," it is scarcely
conceivable that there is not an allusion to ^e Mosaic account:
•* And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters ;" for, says
Mr. Jamieson, "The Hebrew word rahhaph^ implies the idea of
love, as it expresses the incubation df a female bird." By the " Zcfph
a»eminf** some understand angels, and others, the heavenly bodies^
which many of the heathens supposed to be intelligent, and thereJTore
ziored as deities* , Grotius observes that Sanchoniathon, af^ the ex-
ample of Moses, has made light prior to the sun ; and that the mot
of the former is merely the abyss or deep mentioned by the latter.
This system of th^ universe is evidently far less consistent with
reason than ike Mosaic account. It represents, it is true, the sphrit
of dark air as uncreated, but it, at the same time represents it as ma-
terial, and thus by it eternity and infinity are ascribed to matter. It
also lacks that simplicity which characterizes the Mosaic narrative,
and which is no inconsiderable proof of its superior antiquity. The
account of Sanchoniathon is so allegorical that there is reason to sus-
pect this is not the first state in which the doctrine appeared. It is
true tliat men^in early stages of society use figurative expressions;
but their ktnguage is simple, and it is used by thenh not to obscure
11
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83 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
the thought, but to give it the greater energy. But when the very
ideoi in which a doctrine is communicated are figurative and em-
blematic^, in this there is evidence of a more advanced state of soci-
ety; and the inference is either that the doctrine has been derived
from others, or that although formeriy.known to all, it has become ob-
scure through length of time, and that the more learned wish to keep
it conoeal^d from the vulgar, Aqd it is worthy of remark, that the
farther we gb back in examining the opinions of .any people, we
have the greater evidence of their ascribing almost every great effect
immediately to the first cause; for it is not until men have for some
time addicted themselves to philosophical pursuits, that they give
much ^tttention to secondary causes. ,
It may further be added that Sanchoniafhon must have borrowed
his account frpm the Mosaic narrative, for he acknowledges his obli-
gations, in the compilation of his history, to Jerombaal, whom he
calls priest of the God lao ;. that thereby Jbhovah is meant, is evi-
dent froqi the fact that Diodprus ss^s, that '* Moses among the Jews
ascribed his laws to the God who is called /qmk" From the resem-
Uance of his Qosmogeny to the Mosaic account of the creation, 'as
well as from the fact just stated, it has been supposed that the person
referred to by the^ Phenician historian, under the name of Jerombaal,
was Gideon, who was also called Jerubaal, as maybe seen by consult-
ing the book of Judges. The only difficulty is that Sancheniathon
calls him a priest, whereas Gideon was not of the tribe of Levi.
But the heathen might consider him a priest, because he not only set
up an ephod in his own city^ to which all Israel resorted, but former^
ly, at the express command of God, had offered sacrifice.
There is a striking resemblance between the Phenician and the
Egyptian account of ^the creation. According to the latter, ''When
the universe first coalesced, heaven and earth were of one form, their
nature being blended together. But afterwards, the air. began to have
a constant motion, its fiery particles flew to the upper region ; and
hence proceeded the rapid circular motion of the sun and'o^er stars.
The muddy and turbid matter, after being incorporated with the hu-
mid, subsided in one place by its own weight Thus the sea was
formed of the watery parts ; and the earth of the more solid* The
humid matter being fecundated by ^e heat of the sun, all kinds of
creatures were produced." Although no mention is made in this ao-
count, of an efficient -cause, yet there is no inconsiderable agreement
with the Mosaic narrative, both as to matter aiid order. Here we
have the heaven and earth blended in 0|ie common mass; the motion
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.- 8S
of the earth; the mud, deep or abyss; the light, then the heavenly
bodies; the separation of the heavens, sea and earth, and then the
fonnation of living creatures.
The same coincidence is observable in the writings of odier heath-
ens. And their accounts of the chaos are attributed by themselves to
tradition, which« according to some of them, is ascribed to a divine
revelation. This idea seems to be conveyed by Plato, for. he ao-
knowtedges that the hints which he and others had concerning the or-
igin of a|| things, proceeded at first from a sacred fountain. ' For ia
his Timseus he says, <<It is proper, that I who speak, and that you
who hear, should remember that we possess human nature only, and
diat ^refore we can merely look for some probable fable or tradition.
Nor is it lawful for us to inquire farther." It is also worthy of re-
mark, ^t the heathen had sortie knowledge of the fact that all things
were created by the word of God, agreeably to the Mosaic narrative,
for Plato called the Creator of the world, the Tfbrdj or reason. Tur-
tollian, addressing the heathen of his days, says, ** Your wise men
were of opinion, that the Word and Wisdoni, which they called Lo-
gos, fram^ the world." Zeno says, that this Word was the. author
of order. ^ To the same purpos/e the philosopher and poet Epich^a^
MQfl, ««From the Logos, or reason of God, the reason of man is' de-
rived.*' The language quoted by some ancient writers from the eongs
aeerfted to Orpheus, is very remarkable : '< I call to witness that voic^
of the Parent, which he Qrst uttered when he founded the universe by
his counsels."
Mr. Jamieson, in his sacred history, says that ** Sanchoniathon, the
Pheniciui historian, calls the first human pair Protogonun and Aeon*
These, indeed, are only the Greek words, which Fhilo-Biblius, who
translated Sanchoniathon's history from (he Phenician, uses to express
ibe meaning of the names given them in the original. But it is gen-
eraHy admitted, that by these are meant Adam and ,Eve, as Protogo*
nu8 signifies first produced, and Aeon, life. "The latter bears a near
resemblance to Eve, both in sense and sound ; for Havah, in He-
Inrew, signifies life, or living." • .
The same author also says, that '* The ancient heathen represented
the first itaan as partaking of both sexes. They therefore called him
by a term which literally signifies man-woman. This evidently al-
ludes to what we have in Scripture. But It will readily occur to every
leasonable' person, Aat the acriptural doctrine of the woman being
finrmed immediately by divine power out of a part of the substance
«f tiie man, has &r more intrinsic evidence of having been the ori-
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94 OREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUirV OF
giaal doctrine, than that of one person possessing both sexes, and
tbns having a natural power of individual procreation, a power Uf
which there is nothing analogous in nature;'^
Oflte of the most striking confirmations of the Mosaic narrative of
the ereatipUr is to be fonnd in the division of time into u>eAs. This
has i^tained equally among the Hebrews, the Egyptians, the Chi-
r^&B»y the Greeks and the Romans, and the barfoarond tribes which
peopled the northern states* Many of these nations had little qt no
intercourse with each other, and were wholly unknown to the Jews.
This division was even accompanied with a special regard to the
aepenih day, Hesiod caUed it the seventh holyday, because among,
the Gentiles this was a day of solemn worship set apart for rdigious
offoes. It. is observed by, Lampudius, of Sev^rus the empennr, that
he need to go to the oapitd, and fVequent the temples on that day.
Tea, the very term sabbath was used by some of them. Thus Sue-
l^nfns says, ** Diogenes, the grammarian, used to hold disputations at
Rhodes on the sabbaths.'* And from Lucian, we learn, that the
seventh day was a festival, and a play-day for shool boys. From
thede and several other instances which are to be found in Clemens
Alaxandrinus and E^sebius, it might be proved that the more -solemn
seh^ices of religidn among the Ctentiles, and their cessations from
work« were on ^e seventh day of the week.
Pray, whence came this common division of tim^? there is noth-
ing in the revdutions of nature to mark out this , arrangement The
revolutions of the moon round the earth, and of the earth round the
sun, might have originated the division of time, into inonths «md
years, but tohat could originate this division into weeks f Time
was divided into days by the succession of light and darkness, er
rather of darkness and light, (for this was the original ordet; it was
so of necessity, since light is a positive effect of creative power, and
tarions ancienlnationis put the night before the day, in their mode.of
computation, as do the Jews). But weeks are mere arbitrary ar*
rangements. We see no reason why the week might not have been
as conveniently composed of five, or nine days, as of seven. Can the
prevalence of this opinion then in distant countries, and ftmong na-
tions who had little or no commnnication with eftch other, be explain-
ed upon any other ground than that of tome remote tnuMtion, whidi
was never lost among tfie nations; and which must have.been com-
mon among mankind before their dispersion? And can we find any:
satisfiMstory origin of this tradition except that which is suggested in
the writings of Meees; «< God blessed the seventh day and eanotified
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUSBS. 86
fL'* It is easy to understand how the institation of a sabbath at the
b^gummgf to oommemorate the accomplishment of the work of cre-
ation in six days, should originate this division ; and this being admit-
todf it is easy to perceive how the practice should remain through
habit, even when the knowledge of its origin had been lost But it
is altogether inconceivable how, without such ccAmmon origin, a prao-
tioe so arbitrary conld have been either introduced, or practiced. So
diat this division of time iiito weeks, constitutes a convindng proof,
that the families of the earth must have proceeded from due common
progenitor; that they originally worshiped the one true and living
God, and that their religion was the same with that stated in the wri-
tings of Moses. . Wherever' the claims of the Scriptures are main-
tained, diis division of time comes in to their aid. The doctrine of a
weekly sabbath is both commended and supported by this arrange-
ment; and the goodness as well as th^ t^Lsdom of Grod in the general
aspect of his government upon mankind, is illustrated and proved.
The very traditiohs of revelation, obscure and, imperfect as they ai«,
are tiuis shown to be valuable memoriab of Divine mercy; and to
sustain an important relation to the general development of his plan for
bringing back the world to its original allegiance and happinpsd.
SECTION n.
UnriDSLs object to the credibili^ of the writings of the Old Testa-
ment OQ account of the relation of the fall of man given by Moses.
Mr. Paine on this subject says, " If €lenesiB be the oldest book in the
world, and, consequently, the oldest and first written book of the
Bible ; and if the extraordinary things related in it, such as the crea-
tion of the worid in six days, the tree of life, and of good and evil,
the Btmy of Eve and the talking serpent, the fall of man, and his
being turned out of Paradise, were facts,, or even believed by the
Jews to be facts, they would be referred to as fundamental matters,
and diat very fre^uehtly, in the books of the Bible; that were written
by various authors aAerwards : whereas there is not a book, chapter,
or veise of the Bible, from the time Moses is said to have written the
book of Genesis, to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Bible,
induding a space of more than a thousand years, in which there is
any mention made of these things, or any of them, nor are they so
juuch as alluded to."
«« The extraordinary things" stated by Mr. Paine above, are men-
H
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15 CREDIBILITY AXD ANTIQUITY OF
tiondd, refened to, and reasoned upon, inTariooa parts of the Old Tes-
tament Scriptores ; a few instances need oslj be given. The sabbath
was instituted, as oommemoratiFe of the ereation in six days, and in
Ezodas XX. 9, 10, 11, it is said, «< Remember the sabbath day ^
keep it holy. Six days shalt dioa lal^i' and do all thy work. But ^
flSTenth day is {tie sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do
any work, thoa, nor fby son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy
maid serV^t, nor thy. cattle, ngr the stranger that is within thy gates.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all ^t in
them is, and rested the seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and hallowed it;*' and the sabbath is mentioned, or
feferred to by the different writers pf the Old Testament, upwards of
ibrty times. Ezekiel mentions Eden, and calls it ** the garden of
Ood," xxviii. 13. Isaiah speaks of Eden and the garden of the Lord,
li. 3. Joel also speaks of ** die garden of Eden," iL 3/ In Pro-
verbs the tree of life is repeatedly mentioned. Several of the Old
Testament writers speak of the enemies of God under the name of the
«« serpent," and Isaiah says, ** dust shall be the serpent's meat," Ixvi.
25. Solomon says, God made man upright; and Job mentions his
fall and attempt to conceal his transgression; ««If I have covered
my transgressions as Adam by hiding mine iniquity," xxip. 31. So
.mucli for the reckless assertion of Mr. Paine. The quotations just
given prove that the writera of the Old Testament believed in the Mo-
saic account of the creation of the worid, and in his history of the fall
•oi man, and that not in an aUegorical, but a literal sense. And the
Infidel, Olmsted, is right when he contends Aat if this narrative be
not understood in a literal sense «« the system whichis built upon it is
an a fiction." But wfaei\ he urges that the narrative records events^
oqnally unworthy both of God and man, he argues wrongly. Mr.
O. holds up the temptation of an apple,* and the account of the
serpent's conversation with die woman, as subjects of ridicule ; and
the punishment he presumes to be out of all proportion to the trivial
nature of the offence. >
** The Lord God commanded the pan, saying, of every tr^ of die
garden thou mayest freely eat : but of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil thou shalt not eatof it ; for in &e day thon eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die," or iieoome mortaL Dr. Adam Clark renders
the words, «« dying thou shi^ die, thou shalt continue in a dying state
till tbou die." This is represented by Moses as ihe first precept ^ven
* Moses no where Mjrs ths ft«it of ths tne WW an tppb.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCKIPTURES. gy
by God to man, and it was evidently gtyea as a test of his obedience,
and a proof of his being in a depcovient and probationary state. It
was necessary for Adam to know that he was only Gknl's vicegenrU
here, and that to Him he was itceountable for all his actions, and this
prolubition was singularly adapted to the end proposed, which was
tfiat he might be conformed to his Creator's wUl ; therefore he most
be trained to habits of implicit obedience, and be satustfied in abstain^
ing from a thing on the mere grounci of its being fprbidden by God«
thoogh he were nnable to perceive the reason of his being required so
to do. And when we consider the circumstances of Adam and Eve,
9B r^iesented by Moses, the test of eating or not .eating a particular
finiit, may not appear so ridiculous as the Infidel imagines. They
cooki have committed no moral crime in the ordinary meaning of the
term. They could neither steal, nor covet, nor defraud, for their pos-
sesdon was the whole world. They could not commit adultery, for
ibae was not another man or woman in existence. There was no room
for deceit or fraud. And they to whom the glory of God was daily
made manifest, could not well give utteirance to bl^phemy. There-
f(H« it was impossible to try them except by the estabjlshment of some
arbitrary test The objection of the Infidel, therefore, must not stop
where it does. It must go on and condemn all trial, because none
besides that which actually occurred can be conceived.
'The Infidel sneers at the idea Of the talking serpent. This it is con-
ceded is an extraordinary occurrence ; but does this prove it to be a fic-
tion f It should be borne in min^ that the whole transaction is repre-
sented as something quite distinct from the ordinary occurrences of
nature. . A spirit possessed of great power is represented as the agent ;
and a serpent as the instrument used by that agent. Can the Infidel
who sneers at the narrative explain how spirit operates on matter?
When he makes this explanation, then, but not until then, can he be pre-
pared to decide whether this particular mode of operation was impossi'
Me ; as the Infidel cannot prove the impossibility of the fact, as stated
by Moses, if the volume in which it is contained can be proved authen-
tic, and its writers inspired, the narrative on every principle of reason
and common sense, must be received as truth. But let it be distincdy
understood, all that is at present contended' for is, that it was not
impossible for the evil Spirit to speak through the serpent. But it
is urged the punishment is out of all propordon to the nature of the
offence. To this it is replied, that the offence was a most fiapant
act of rebellion, on the part of man, against the government of his
Creator and kind Benefactor. That man is no less a thief who steals
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88 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
all he can, if it amount only to a dollar, than he is who steals all within
his reach, because it amounts to thousands. Adam was as much dis-
obedient to the will of God as David was when he appropriated to
himself his neighbor's wife, and caused the unfortunate husband to
be exposed in the front of the battle that he might be slain.*"
* Dr. Pye Smith, in reference to the consequences of the fall of man, holds the
ibllowing language: <'The general opinion has been that, before our first parents
fell from innocence and happiness, d.6atU and its harbingers had no place in the infe-
rior animal creation-' To maintain consistency, it ought further to have' been
affirmed that the vegetable kingdom was also preserved frpm decajr, withering and
dying. But men have been probably withheld fxom setting up such a theory, by
consideration of the manifest absurdi^es into which it would have led its supporters ;
and by the belid'that plants, though possessing Aii irritability to which it is difficult
to refaae-the idea of some kind of aensitiveness, yet appear not to have any con-
sciousness or intellectual fiicutties.
Our first inquiry most naturally should be, whether We find any information^
direct or indirect,' in the original document of inspiration. I think that we do; not
indeed directly, but indirectly ahd by, such an implication as is equal to a formal
assertion. The constitution of animated beings, founded upon the divine will, is
expressed in the words, " Be fruitful and multiply.'' This involves not only the pre-
Servation of species, but a succession of individuals, which would necessarily imply a
eparture of precedent individuals. The law of organization, from the embryo forma-
tion to the animal maturity, is carried on in the way of a continual separation of pazv-
ticles and their replacement by new pnes, which the nutritive process incessantly
frimishcs. To this process imp9ssal)le limits are set, by the most certain laws of the
Greator^s ordinatUHi; those of gravity and chemical action. To suppose that thoee
laws should be abrogated, or, what would amount to tlie same thing, be perpetually
suspended, would imfly a contradiction; it #ouId be abolishing the very essential
condition of organized existence When a certain point was reached, separation,
changed combination, and dissolution of the molecules, must take place;' the nidi*
ment and sura introducer of death.
Were it not so, were animated beings to increase and multiply without the depar-
ture of the preceding gen^tiops, they would, 'at no immense distance of time, go
beyond the provision of nutritive support, and the limits of appropriate habitation :
the land, the air, and the waten, would be filled; food would fail, and death with
aggravated suffisring would be the infallible consequence. This terrible consumma-
tioQ would the more speedily ensue, as, by the supposition made, the only means of
nutrition would lie in vegetable mattfer.
The threatening of death, upon a violation of the easy test of obedience, seems
very clearly to imply, that the subjects of this law had a knowledge of what death
was; otherwise they could not have known what the threatening meant The idea
of their having had set before them^ &« the penalty of violating the law, an
unknown and undefined suffering, does not seem congruous to the wisdom and dig^
nity of legislation.
It would next be proper to ilscertain whether there are any paasKgesof Scripture
which affirm, or imply, that the animals inferior to man were created in a state
not liable to death. This, if supposed, would involve the necessity of all being her-
bivorous; and further, that there were no minute and even invisible animals, inhab-
iting the leaves and fruits of plants, and which the feeden on vegetables must kill
by myriads. I must own that I know of no such passage.
If,however, any should contend that an insuperable difficulty lies in&e occurrenoe
of pain and death to animals, irrespectively of moral evil, I humbly think that they
ought to satisfy themselves with the spirit and principle of our Lord's reply to a not
dissimilar question; ** His disciples asked him. Master, who did sin, this man or
his parents, that he was bom blind 1 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned»
nor his parents; but [this was appointed] that the works of God should be mani* '
iie^ed in* him."
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THE OLD TESTAMENT BCRIPTURBa gg
Mr. 0. mamtains that the whole narrative is unwor&y the charac-
ter of QqA, because it represents Him as <* literally detecting him ;"
(Adam,) <*had a Hterd interview with him, and upbraided him; lit-
erallj walked himself in the garden, and actually made clothes of the
akios of beasts and put them on the man and his help meet" Can
ibis Infidd prove that God could not manifest himself to his newly
finrned creatuves in ways, of goodness and condescension? Can he
prove that it was impossible for the Creator of the universe to appear
lo them in a splendid human form, and to commune with them in
wvys^ and to an extent, for the most wise and benevolent purposes,
beyond what we can'know T And if he cannot prove the impossibility
of such manifestations of the Deity, in what does the strength of the
objectkm consist ? Does he assert such a representation is too dispar-
agnig to the character of the Deity to be believed! But, pray, who
Blade him the judge of what is right and proper for the lignite One
to do ? The truth is, the Infidel who urges this objection reasons
upon ihe supposition that the Transcendent One is altogether such an '
one as himself, and governed by the same selfish and proud notions ;
and because he feels that it would be disparaging to his character to
descend from his litde greatness for the benefit of others, he takes it
finr granted, that Gk^ cannot possess more goodness and cohdescen-
sion than he does, forgetting, that as the heavens are higher than the
earA, so mus$ the ways and thoughts 6f the Almighty be higher than
f- ■ r , ,
It is indeed an wwntiiil put of revealed troth, that **hy one man sin entered into
^ world, and death by sin ;" and that thua ^by man came death." But itappeara
to rae a frir interpretation of theae paaaagea, and a fall admiaaion of the doctrme
ceoeeniiiig death aa the penalty of am, to consider them 9» declaring that in thia
manner death acquired dominion over the first nlan and hia posterity; that is, the
human race univCTsally. The entire view of the case leads us to believe that, in the
elite of prialine parity, the bodOy constitution of man wa4 exempted firom the law
of progteas towards dissolution which belonged to Um infisrior animals. It must
liav« been maintained in that distinguished peculiarity, by means to us unknown:
and It would aeem probable that, had not man fiillen by transgreadon, he and each
of his posterity would, after faithfully suataining an individual probation, have
pasaed through a change without dying, and have been exalted to a more perfect
aCate of being.
In addition to these considerationa, it ought to be especially recollected, that the
anatomical structure of the larger part of animal species presents demonstration that
ffaey were created to Kve upon annual food. Some persons have strangely affirmed
the eoQtraiy, and have supposed that, by |)eTievering practice, lions and wolvea and
an eamiveroos creatures might be brought to laVe upon a vegetable diet Every
physiologist muat smile at thia monstrous absurdity. A fiiw species indeed are
omniveroas; and this dicumstanoe has misled some penons. It follows, that these
predictions of the peace and happiness of the Messiah s teign, which picture the fero-
cioos and venomoos animals as becoming herbivorous and harmleaa, must be under-
slood, as they are by Christiaii expositors generally, as beautiAil poetiy, eaqpreasing
the moral influence ^f the gospeL"— [Dr. Pye Smith on Soipture and Geology,
|ip.837— 243.
h2 12
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f^ CBBDIBILITT AND ANnQUITT OF
his tltf>ughts and w«yB. The Infidel feels that if he stoop bdow his
imaginary dignity, he subjects himself to be despised by his fellow
men; but he forgets that God, being infinitely exalted above all others,
let Him stoop erer so low, he is certain to retain his infinite greatness.
Therefore the only qaesticm is this, was it possible for Qod. to mani-
fest himself to the progenitors of the human rac6 in the manner descri-
bed by Moses ? When the Infidel shows its impossibUity, then the
Christian may feel it necessary to reconsider the grounds of his faith.
Here, again, traditionary revelation comes in to our aid. It is evi-
dent that the disobedience of our first mother is plainly alluded to in
the well known heathen legend of Pandora, who, being led by a fa-
tal curiosity to open a casket that had been given her by Jupiter, out
of it flew afl the evil into the world, and she became the original
cause of all the miserable occurrences that befall mankind; hope
alone, the hope in a promised and long remembered deliverer, ren^ain-
ing at the bottom of die casket
According to Sanchoniathon, Eve found out the fruit which is gath-
ered from trees. Here then is, undoubtedly, a traditionary reference to
&at fatal discovery which was first made by the woman, when she saw
diat the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes.
Orotius observes, &at in the most ancient mysteries of the Greeks,
the excbtmation Eva was used, and a serpent shown at the same
time. Mr. Bayle says, << The Brachmans of Persia give a variety
of accounts concerning a great giant who was placed in a beautiful
garden; which upon certain conditions he was to possess forever.
But one evening, when it was ddskish, an evil spirit or devil came to
tempt him, and offered him a vast sum of money ; which he resolute-
ly refused, not knowing the value of it. But at last the devil brought
him a woman, with whom he was so charmed, that, not any longer
observing the conditions proposed to him, he was expelled from the
garden."
Maimonedes gives a particular account of various works of the
idolatrous Sabii, who lived in Media and other countries. He says,
that " They believed that die Jirat Adam was procreated of man and
woman, like the rest of men; that notwithstanding, they highly ex-
tolled him, asserting that he was the aposde of the moon, and called
men to her worship, and that be composed some books on the culture
of the earth." He warns his readers against being misled by the ac-
counts given in the books of those idolaters, saying, "As to what
they relate concerning the first Adam, the serpent, the tree of know-
ledge of good and evil, and garments which were not formerly in use,
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. gi
bewaie, lest it cany away thy Hndentanding, and thou shonldfet ap-
prehend that these things happened to Adam, or to any other." In
this place he gires the following account, which appears in one of
the^ writings. <* It is there narrated," he says, <* that the first Ad-
am wrote in his book, that there is a certain tree in India, whose
branch, when fallen to the earth, creeps like a serpent ; that there is
another tree whose root has a human face and a powerful voice, and
Btters distinct words ; also, ;that there is a certain herb, which if it be
taken and suspended round the neck, renders a man invisible, so that it
cannot be perceived into what place he enters, nor whence he de-
parts ; but that if it be burned as incense in the open air, the most
tremendous noises and thunders are heard in the adjacent atmosphere
as long as Ike smoke ascends." Althpugh Maimonedes seams to
hafe been ignorant of the circumstance, the Sabii appear to have ao-
oommodated their feble to the natural history of the Banyan tree, so
£unous in India, the branch of which, when, fallen to the earth, might
be said to creep like a serpent.
Grotius asserts, that the same history of the fall is found among
the inhabitants of Pegu and other idolatrous nations of India ; and
that the Brahmins are acquainted with the name of Adam. In the
idand of Ceylon, in the neighborhood of the Peninsula of India,
they pretend to point out the footsteps of Adam on a mountain called
Pico de Adam. The inhabitants make a religious procession around
that mountain yearly. The eastern tradition is, that when Adam was
driven out of Paradise, he fled to Ceylon and did pennace for sev-
eral years on this mountain.
The Mexicans have preserved among them traditions of the fell,
and the early history of mankind, as handed down to us by Moses,
obscured, of course, yet not so much so but tfiat we can trace their
identity. The opposite plate i^ a.oopy of a Mexican painting taken
from Ae Codex Vaticanus, at Rome, whither it arrived from the new
continent, shortly after the early conquests in New Spain. It will be
found in the Paris folio edition of Baron Humboldt's *<yues des
Cordilieres." The large figure represents the celebrated «* serpent
woman," Cihuacohuatl, called, also, Tonacacihua, << woman of our
flesh." The Mexicans considered her the mother of the* human
race. She is always represented with a great serpent; but for this
no reason is assigned, as though, in process ,of time, part of the trar
ditlon were lost Behind the serpent, who appears to be speaking to
Eve, are two naked figures of diflerent color, and in the attitude of
contention. The serpent woman was considered at Mexico, as the
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92 CREDIBILrrY AND ANTIQUITT OF
mother of twin cUldren, and which are here represented. Tfab part
of the picture is entirely unexplained. Baron Humboldt supposes
they represent Cain and Abel, of Semetic- tradition. He considers
the other figures, however, merely as vases, respecting which a quar-
rel may have ensued. But if so much be conceded, as is necessarily
true, that the chief figures are Eve, ihh serpent. Gain and Abel, then
it follows that the others are the two altars, one qf which, standing
erect, bears the offering of Abel, viz : a r^m, the horns of which are •
rudely delmeated ; while the other is the altar of Cain, rejected by the
Almighty, and therefore painted upside down, containing his offering,
viz: th&' fruits of the earth. Baron Humboldt thinks the color of
Cain attributable, perhaps, to fancy or change. May we not consider
it typieal of the mark set on the murderer by Jehovah for the hein-
OQsness of his guilt T for it will be noticed that Abel is represented
with Ike same tint as Eve ; and from the general care in the distribu-
tion of colors through the piece,, we cannot infer want of design.*
So striking is the resemblance between the scriptural history of
Aese events, and. th& heathen traditions, that the advocate of Revela-
tion could hardly wish it greater. For if they perfectly agreed, in-
stead of confirming, >this would weaken the evidence of the necessi-
ty of a revelation. For if tradition had perfectly preserved the
memory of these important facts, it could hardly be supposed that it
had grossly corrupted doctrines. Infidels, in this case, instead of be-
ing convinced that divine revelation was necessary, might argue (rom
the integrity of tradition concerning facts, with far greater plausibility
than they do as matters stand ; not only that the writers of the Scrip-
tares have borrowed from heathen tradition, but that the doctrines of
heathenism could not be so corrupted as the friends of Revelation as-
sert, while its history was admitted to be so entire. But whence the
origin of these traditions concerning the creation and the fall of man ?
Mr. Hume says, << The first invention and proof of any doctrine is
much more difficult than the supporting and defending of it" He
also says, «« An historical fact, while it passes by oral tradition from
eye-witnesses and contemporaries, is disguised in every successive
narrative, and may at last retain but very small, if any, resemblance
of the original truth on which it was founded." In the present in-
stance is it not evident that Moses recorded the historical facts, and
that these are the corrupted traditions ?
The universality of serpent worship is a most striking evidence
* Dehifield's Inqmiy into the Origin of the American Antiqnitief.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRXPTUREfl. 9a
Aat ibe ancient nations of ihe earth possessed originally a know*'
ledge of the temptation of our mc^ther Eve by the serpent Dean, in
his elaborate treatise on the subject, says, << We have traced the wor-
ship of the serpent from Babylonia, east and west through Persia*
Hindostan, China, Mexico, Britain, Scandinavia, Italy, lUyricum,
Thraoe, G^reece, Asia Minor, and Phenicia." Again, ** We have ob*
served the same idolatry pervading the north and south, through Scy-
ihia on the dne hand and Africa on the other. The worship of the
serpent was therefore univers^ ; foI^not only did the sacred serpent en-
ter into the symbolical and.ritual service of every religipn which recog-
nized the sun, but we find it in countries where solar worship was to-
tally unknown, as in Sarmatia and Scandinavia, and the gold coast of
Africa. In every known country of the ancient worid, the serpent
formed a prominent feature in the ordinary worship, and made no in-
eoosiderable figure in their hagiography ; entering alike into legendary
and astronomical mythology.*' The circumstances of this worship,
and the fabulous legends connected with it, not only point to one
common origin, but must plainly be traced to the serpent of Paradise,
and the Mosaic history of the fall. In* the Hindoo writings, hell is
called the place of serpents. It is also therein related that their god
Crishna, when incarnate, had a terrible conflict with Kalle Naga^ the
black serpent with a thousand heads, and after being supposed des-
troyed, at length triumphed over him; and taking his heads, one by
one, tore them firom his body, and casting ihem at his feet, trampled
and danced on them. Another representation, founded on the same
tradition, describes Crishna as treading on the serpent, which at the
same time bites his hee^. No worshiper of Crishna of any distinc-
tion is without an image of this, in gold, silver, or copper.*
The narrative of the fall of man is cbnfirmed both by natural and
dvtl history. Thus it agrees in an eminent maaner, both with the
obvious facts of labor, sorrow, pain, and death, and also with what
we see tmd ieel every day, and with all our inquiries into the frame
of the human mind, the nature of social life, and the origin of evil.
The several powers of the little world within a man's own hearty
are at variance with one, another, as well as those of the great
world, and unassisted reason never can give a solution of the origin
of the evils which flow from these discords. But the Mosaic n^
rative accounts for all these phenomena; and is corroborated by va^
rions traditions «more or less agreeable to it The opinions of the
* Mwirioa's History of Hindostan. ,
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94 CREDnMLITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
ancient moralists on ori^nal sin, the corruption and depraviQr of oar
natare, tend to confirm the Mosaic narrative. Pythagoras termed the
depravity of oar natnre, the ** latent eompamonj the noxious ttrift^
that turka within us^ and wfdch was bom along with ti«." Socnr-
tes called it <* the nn which is born with mankind f** Pkto, **natih
ral wickedness;" Aristotle, **'the natural repugnancy ofman^s tern'
per to reason;" and all the Greek and Roman philosophers,* esp^
dally the Stoics and PlatoHists, complain of the depraved and degen-
erate condition of mankind 4 of their propensity to every thing that
is evil, and of their Aversion from every thing that is good. Cicero
lamented **that men are brought into life by nature^ as a step^moth-
er, with a twkedifraUy ccnd imfirm body^ and with a soul pr&ne to
divers lusts" Seneca, one of the best of the Roman phflosopbers,
observes, " We are bom in such a condition that we are not sub-
ject to fewer disorders of the mind than of the body;" that all
vices are in all men, though they do not break out in every oAe, and
that to confess them is the beginning of our cure : and Hierocles
called this universal taint, **the domestic evU of mankind" Even
some of th^ sprightliest poets bear their testimony to the same fact.
Propertius could say, *< Every body has a vice to which he is incUn"
ed by nature" Ho^ce declared ^*that no man is bom free from
vices f" and that **he is the best man who is oppressed with the
least;" Aat << mankind rush into wickedness, and always desire that
which isforbiddm;" that ^^ youth has the softness of wax to receive
vicious imprtssionst and the hardness of rdck to resist virtuous ad^
monitions ;" and, in short, that '* wears mad enough to attack heaven
itself" and that " our repeated crimes do not suffer the Ood ofheav-
en to lay aside his wratf^ thunderbolts" And Juvenal has for-
nished a striking corroboration of the statement of Paul of Tarsus,
concerning the earned mind^ when he sa3rs that *" nature^ unehangar
bhffixed^ runs back to unckedness" as bodies to their centre.
Further, there is reason to suppose that the ancient Celtic Druids
expressly taught the defection of the human soul from a state of ori-
ginal rectitude. The invariable belief of the Brahmins in Hindostan
is, that man is a fallen creature ; their doctrine of the transmigration
of the soul is built on this foundation. The professed design of the
metempsychosis was to restore the fallen soul to its pristine estate
of blessedness. Their sacred writings represent the whole uni-
verse as an ample and august theatre for the probationary exertion of
mWons of beings, who are supposed to be so many spirits degraded
from the high honor of angelical distinction, and condemned to as-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBES. 95
eendt timmgh Tarioas gradations of toil and fuffering to that exalted
•phere of perfection and happiness, which they enjoyed before their
defeetioQ.
The doctrine so universally prevelant in Asia^ that man is a fallen
creature, gave birth to the persuasion, that by severe sufierings, and a
loog series of probationary discipline, the soul might be restored to
its primitive purity. Hence oblations the most cosdy, and sacrifices
the most sanguinary, in the hope of propitiating the angry powers,
forever loaded the altars of the pagan deities. . They had even sacri-
fices denomihated rtgeneration; and their sacrifices were always
prdfosely stained with blood.
From the same conviction' of human depravity, and the necessity
of atonement, arises the practice of voluntary torture which they in-
flict upon themselves. Mr. Swartz, one of the Maiabarian missiona-
ries, rdates that a certain man on the Malabar coast, had enquired at
TBxioiis devotees and priests how he might make atonement, and at
last he was directed to drive iron spikes, sufficienUy blunted, through
his sandals ; on these spikes he was to place his naked feet, and walk
about four hundred and eighty miles. If through loss of blood, or
weakness of body, he was necessitated to halt, he was obliged to wait
far heding and • strength. He undertook his journey ; and while he
hailed under a large shady tree, where the gospel \vas sometimes
preftched, one of the missionaries came and preached in his hearing
finom these words; ^The blood of Jeiais Christ cleanseth from all
sin.'* While he wa9 preaching the man rose up, threw off his tortur-
ing saadals, and cried aloud, :*« This is what I want" *
The classical mythologists inculcated the opinion that man was a
fiiBen creature, in their descriptions of the gradual corruption of the
fanman race, during the period subsequent to the golden age. Catul-
his represents the unhallowed period when justice was put to flight,
and brothers imbrued their hands in fraternal blood, while incest and
sacrilefe 'alienated the mind of God from man ; and Tacitus marks
out the progress of depravity, from, a period free from offence and
punishment, to a flagitious and abandoned wickedness, devoid even
of fear. Thus providence has drawn evidence of the guilt of men
from their own confessions, and has preserved their testimony for the
ooDTietion of those cff subsequent times.
The universal practice of animal sacrifice constitutes a striking
proof that all the fieanilies of the earth, mast have descended firom
*8eeE9.aKiiowMge-Ha1icle <<fiQiidooiflBi.''
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M CRBDIBILmr AND ANTIQUITY OP
one common progenitor, and their original worship must have been
one and the same ; and that from the most early ages of their his-
tory, mankind must have felt that they were fallen and depraved be-
ings, and needed an attonement for their transgressions.
This practice is so ancient, that even without the Mosaic record^ it
might be referred to a period equally remote with that which they
point out Can the universality of this prac^ce be accounted for ex-
cept upon the supposition of a common origin and a common reli-
gion?
What natural co^inexion is there betii^een kiUing a beast in sacrifice
and obtaining the favor of God, or averting his vengeance ? Could it
by any possibility have suggested itself to the minds of men in every
age and under every diversity of circumstances, as the mode of at-
tempting to propitiate the Deity? How could it so suggest itself in
the first instance? If even it were of human invention, what man
except the first man, could- evjBr have sufficient authority to introduce
the practice, or any possible opportunity to have gained general atten-
tion to it ? His immediate posterity might have obeyed him in thiir
matter ; but would even they have continued the practice if it was
enforced by no sanction but his appointment? And if they had con-
tintied to observe it, is there a single prmciple of human nature upon
which we can account for its perpetuity, even dpwn to the preeent
day ? Is there any rational mode of explaining the universality of
this practice save that it originated in a divine appointment ; that this
appointment was confirmed to the inhabit^ts of the earth by divine
attestations ; that it wa^ subsequently renewed, as the sacred records
testify, among the inhabitants of the post-dilutian world ; and that it
continued to be regarded as a divine institution wherever the true Grod
was known, until i^ whole design was consummated in the voluntary
offering up of Christ himself at Calvary ? Admit this view of the case,
and the whole history of animal sacrifice is plain and satisfactory.
The providence of God, watching over the perpetuity of his own
institutions, secures the universal observance of this practice ; and in
the practice itself we have the great leading principle of his govern-
ment, as exercised towards a fallen and guilty race, <<that witliout the
shedding of blood there is no reifiission." Every where has it pointed
to a sacrifice of real value, which should actually " put away the sin
of the world :" an effect which plainly could not follow from the blood
of bulls or goats, or the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean.
And still as, the gospel of salvation is preached to the heathen, or the
volume of written revelation is read to'^em, there is in the very prin-
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THE OLD TB8TAMENT SCRIPfUBEa 97
ciple of iheir sacrificea a recognition of the great leading doctrine of
inspiration, redemption throagh the vicarioos sacrifice of the cross.'
This single principle has ever been a kind of pole star amidst the
darimess of heathenish night
There is nothing iu which the traditions and opinions of the hea«
Aen bear. stronger testimony to the doctrines of Scripture than th6
oottTiction which . prevailed of tl^e necessity* of an atonement for sin,,
and the intervention of a Divine Mediator, and the universal practice
of devoting peculiar victims which has at one period or another pre*
▼ailed in every quarter of the globe. It has been alike adopted by
{tut most barbarous, snd by the most refined nations. The rude idoi-
ator of this recently discovered hemisphere, and the polished votary of
polytheism equally concur in the belief, that without the shedding of
blood there can be no remission of sins. Among the ancient Egyptians
die wOTshiper placed his hands on the head' of the victim, loaded it with
Biprecations, and its last gasp was viewed as the seal of his pardon.
Nor was the life of th^ brute creature always deemed sufficient to
avert the wtath of heaven, for frequently the death bf a nobler victim
was required, and the altars of paganism were bedewed with human
blood. Thus, the Canaanites cunsed their first bom to pass through
the fire to appease the anger of their Mae deifiee ; and one of the
kings of Moab is said to have ofiered up his eldest son as a burnt
offimng, when in danger from the superior power of the Edomites.
Nor was the belief that the gods were rendered propitious by this
peeoHar mode of sacrifice, confiiied to the nations which were more
immediately contiguous to the territoVies of IsraeL We learn from
Homer, that a whole hecatomb of fatling lambs was no uncommon
offering among his eountryriien. And the ancient Groths have laid it
down as a principle that the effusion <rf the blood of animals appeased
te anger of the gods, and that their justice turned aside upon the vic-
tim, those strokes which were destined for man. Mankind soon pro-
ceeded jto greater lengths, and adopted the horrid piactice of offering
hnman victims. In honor of the mystical number three, a number
deemed peculiaiiy dear to Heaveui every ninth month witnessed the
groans and dying struggles of nine unfortunate victnns. The fiitsd
Uow being struck, the lifeless bodies were consumed in the sacred
fire, which was kept perpetually burning, while the blood, in eingur
far cmrformUy to the LevWeal ordinanceej was sprinkled, partly
upon the surrounding multitude, partly upon the trees of the hallowed
grove, and parfiy upon the' images of their idols. Even the abori-
gines of this continent retained similar postoms and for similar rea-
I 13
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Og CBEBIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
80111. It is obfenred by Acosta, that in cases of nckness it was usual
for a Peruvian to sacrifice his son to Yirachoca, beseeching him to
^^are his life, and to be satisfied with the blood of his sbn.
Whence then, we may ask with Faber, could originate this universal
practice of devoting the first bom of either man or beast, and of offer-
ing it up as a burnt ojQTenng ; whence but firom a deep and innate
consciousness of moral deprivation! Whence, buf fipom some per^
verted tradition respecting the true sacrifice to be once offered for the
sins of all mankind ? In the oblation of the first bom, originally insti-
tuted by God himself, and faithfully adhered to by Jew and Gentile,
we behold the death of him who was the first bom of his virgin
mo&er accurately, though obscurely, exhibited. And in the constant
use of fire, the invariable scriptural emblem of wrath and jealousy^ we
view the indignation of that God, who is a consuming fin, averted
from our guilty race and poured out on the immaculate head of our great
int^Nsessor. ' Ijlada consciousness of purity reigned in the bosoms of
the imcient iddators, it does not appear why they should have more
reason to dread his vengeance than to expect an^ to claim his favor ;
yet that such a dread did ..universally prevail, is too well known to
require the formality 6f a labored demonstration*
The translation 'of Enoch may be traced in the Grecian fables of
the translation of their heroes and demi-gods, and particularly of Hes-
peras and Astrea- among the ancient Grpeks, who are fabled to have as-
cended to heaven alive, and to have turned into stars and celestial signs ;
of Dhruva among ihe Hindoos ; of Budha among the Ceylonese, and
of Xaca, another name for Budha, among the Calmucks of Siberia.
The longevity of the antedOuvian inhabitants mentioned by Moses,
is confirmed by various heathen Writers. All, says Josephus, ** who
have committed to vnritiiig the antiquities either of the Greeks or Bar-
bariann, attest tiiis longevity of men before the flood." And he imme-
diately subjoins, << Manetho, who wrote an account of the Eg3rptians,
Berosns, who compiled an account of the affairs of Chaldea, aind
Mochus, and Hertiaeus, and with them Hieronymus the^Egyptian»
who have treated of the affairs of Egypt, agree with me in this.
Also Hesiod, and Heratasus, and Hillamicus, and Acusilaus, and Epho-
rus, and Nicolaus, relate that the ancients lived a thousand years.''
Similar traditions of the longevity of men, in former ages, dre still to
be found among the Burmans of the further Indian peninsula, and also
among the Chinese.*
* Faber, Tol.Lpp^M, 9a
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRffTURSa 09
Tine Mosaic account of men of a gigantic stataie, who were inured
to deeds of lawless violence and rapine, is confirmed by the Greek
and Latin poets, who relate that there were giants in the past ages of
ihe world, and also by the Greek and Latin historians, particularly by
Pansanius and Philostratus among the Greeks, and Pliny among the
Bomans, who have recorded that, on op^ng some sepulchers, the
bodies of men were found -to ^ave be^ much larger in old times,
Josephus also speaks of bonef seen in his day of a magnitude almost
exceeding credibility. I'hese testimonies of historians of former ages
Aurnish a satisfactory answer to the petty cavils of those who object
to the credibility of Moses, from his mentioning the gigantic size of
Og's bedstead Bui men of very large size are seen even in our days.
Some allowance may alse be made for royal vanity, as Alexander
the great ordered his soldiers to enlarge the size of their beds, that
diey might give to the Lidians of succeeding ages, a great idea of the
prodigious stature of the Macedonian soldiers^ , Bishop Watson,
treating on this subject, in answer to Paine, says : << My philosophy
leaches me to doubt many things, but it does not teach me to reject
every testimony which is opposite to experience. Had I been bom
in Shedand, I could, on proper testimony, have believed in Uie exist-
SDceof the Lincolnshire ox, or the largest dray horse in London }
dioogh the oxen and horses of Shedand had not been bigger than
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100 CBBDIBHiITY AND ANTIQUITY t)P
CHAPTER in.
CREDIBILITY AND ANTiaUITT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
The Mosaic narratiye of th^ deluge is passed oyer in silence by
both Mr. Paine and Mr. Olmsted. Mr. Taylor treats the account
with derision, and asserts that Noah is merely a m3rthological person-
age who never had a real existence ; but as he adduces no argument,
(so far as known to the writer,) t6 support his assertions concerning
^e narrative of the deluge, it is deemed Out of place here to present
to the reader his bare assertion concerning Npah, and to combat that
assumption. Infidels, however, generally object to the credibility of
the Mosaic narrative on the grounds that his statements «ure contrary
to the philosphy of Nature, and that no stock of water could .be found
sufficient to overflow the earth to the degree represented by Moses.
The Hebrew historian however asserts that it was universal, and phi-
losophy has at last found 9Ut that there is Sufficient water in the
ocean, if called forthv to overflow the highe9t mountains to the degree'^
described by Moses, a conclusion it once stoutly denied. Keill for-
merly imputed that twenty-eight oceans would be necessary for that
purpose ; but we are now informed that a farther progress in mathemat-
ical and physical knowledge has shown the different seas and oceans
to contain at l^t fprty-eight times more water than they were then
Supposed to do ; and, that the mere raising of the temperature of the
whole body of the ocean to a degree no greater than marine animals
live in, in the shallow seas between the tropics, would so expand it
as more than to produce the height above the mountains stated in the
Mosaic account
The narrative of Moses is confirmed by the fossil remains of ani-
mals belonging to a former world, which are found in many parts of the
earth. Stratified mountains of various heights exist, in and between
whose strata various substances of marine, and some vegetables of
terrestrial origin, repose either in their natural state or petrified. The
plains of the arctic circle are overspread with shells of the Indian
seas, and with the bodies of, elephants and rhinoceri, and surrounded
by masses of sub-marine vegetation. On the cOast of Kent, in Eng-
land, have been found together, the crocodile of Africa and the turde
of the West Indies. These facts, about which there is no dispute^
and which are acknowledged by the advocates of each pf the prevailing
geological theories, give a sufficient attestation to the deluge of Noah*
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THE OLD TBSTAIOENT SdUFnURBS. 101
in wYoA the fountaiDS of the great deep were broken up, and from
which preeisely soeh phenomena might be expected to Mow*
Infidels also object to the Moeaie account of the deloge, that it was
impossible for the ark, described by Moses, to contain the men and
beMts, with their provisions^ which Moses states were in it a whole
year. Dr. Wilkins and others have learnedly dtscossed this snlject ;
and after .the nicest examination and compntation, and taking the
dimenrions with the greatest geometrical exactness; the uKMt learn*
ed and aoeorate calenlaton, and those «most conversant in building of
ships, conclude that if the most Me mathematicians had been consulted
about proportioning ike several departments of t&e ark, they ooidd not
bsfve done it with greater correctness than Moses has done; and diis
narrative is so £ur from furnishing Infidels with arguments wherewith
to weaken the authority of the Scriptures, that on the contrary it sup-
plies good argum^its to confirm that authority, since it seems in a
Banner imposstii^ for a man in Noah's time, when navigation was
■Bt perfected, by his own invention to discover; stich aocuracy and
regukrity of proportion as is remarkable in the dimenslqps of the ark f
it Mows that ike correctness must be attributed to divine inspiration
Old a supernatural direction.
Dr. Hales proves the ark to have been of the burden of forty-two
thousand four hundred and thirteen tons, and asks, ** Can we dopbt of
its being sufficient to contain ^ight persons and about two hundred or
two hundred and fiffy pairof (our footed animals, (the number to which,
according to Mr. Bufibn, all the various distinct species may be redu-
ced,) together with all the subsistence necessary for twelve months, with
the fowls of the air, and such reptiles and insects as cannot live in water?
Besides places for the beasts and birds and their provisions, Noah might
find room in the third story for thirty-^ix cabins occupied by household
uteasilsrinstrumeiite of husbandry, books, grains, and seeds ; for a kitoh-
en, a hall, and a space of about forty-eight cubits in length to walk in."
It should be observed that the presumptive evidence of the truth of
ttie foot of the preparatiott of such a vessel, and the supernatural cir-
cumstances which attended it, is exceedingly strong. In truth it is the
only Ablution of a difficulty wiiich has no other explanation ; for as a
uiuvenal deluge is confirmed by the general history of the world, and
by a variety of existing foots and monumente, such a structure as the
ark for the preservation and sustenance of various animals, seems to
have been absehitely necessary ; for as we can trace up the first imper*
feet rudimente of die art of ship-buflding among the Greeks, there could
hatve been no ships before, die flood; and eoiseqpenily no
i2
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102 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUnT OP
oonid haTe been sared. Nay, it is highly improbable that even meiix
and domeetic animals could hare been saved, not to mention wild
beasts, serpents, &;c. ; though it were admitted that the antediluvians
had shipping, unless we should suppose, also, that they had a divine
intimation respecting the fiood, such as Moses relates ; but this w^ould
be to give up the cause to infidelity.
Infidels have objected against the credibility of the Mosaic narra-
tive, from some alleged marks of antiquity, which certain continental
philosphers have affirmed to exist in the strata of the lava of Mount
Etna. Thus, Count Borch has attempted to prove that volcanic
mountain to be eight thousand years old, by the difierent strata cS
lava whidi have been discovered. And in the vaults and pits which
have beea sunk to a great depth about Etna, the Canon Recnpero
affirmed that seven strata of. lava have been found, each with a sur-
laoe of soil upon it, which he affirms, would require two thousand
years to accumulate upon each stratum : and reaaoniag firom analogy,
he calculates that the lowest of these strata must have flowed from
the mountain fourteen thousand years ago ! ** Nothing,^' says Mr.
Home, *«can be more fsdlacions than this argument. For, who
knows what causes have operated to produce voleanic eruptions at
very unequal periods ? Who has kept a register of the eruptions of
any bumihgmountain for one thousand years, to say nothing of thre6
or four thousand T Who can ftay that the strata of earth were formed
in equal periods T The time for the forma^on of the uppermost and last
is probably not known, much less thQ respective periods of the lower
strata. One might be formed in a year, another in a century. These
philosophers are wh<^y. ignorant of the cause of any of those earthly
strata. They build one hypothesis upon another, and to believe their
whole argument . requires stronger fdth than to believe a miracle. •
Faith in a miracle rests upon testimony, but faith • in their scheme
must be founded on an extreme desire to prove a falsehood. But the
analogy otf which it has been attempted to build the hypothesis jtist
mentioned, is contradicted by apother analogy which is grounded, on
more certain facts.
Etna and Vesuvius resemble each other in the causes that produce
their eruptions, in the nature of their lavas, and in the time necessary
to mellow them into soil fit' for vegetation. This being admitted,
which no philosopher will deny, the Canon Recupero's analogy will
prove just nothing at all. We can produce aa instance of seven dif-
ferent lavas with interjacent strata of vegetable earthy which have
flowed from Vesnvius within the sfiace,. not o( fourteen thousand^
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRDPTUREa 108
but of Bomewhat lesa than fourteen hundred years ; for then, accord-
ing to analogy, a stratom of lava may be covered with regetable soil
in abont Uvo hundred and fifty yearty instead of requiring two
thonsand for that purpose. The eruption of Vesuvius which de-
•trojed Herculaneum zsA P6mpeii, is rendered still more Celebrated
by the death of the' elder Pliny, recorded in his nephew's letter to
Taciitus. This event happened A. D. 79 : but we are informed by
unquestionable authority, that the matter which covers Herculaneum
is not the produce of one eruption only, for there are evident marks
^t the matter of six eruptions has taken its course over that which
immediately covers the town, and which was the cause of its destruc-
tion; and these strata are either of lava or of burnt mattery with veins
cf good soil between. Whence it is evident with what ease a Kttk
attention and increase of knowledge may remove a great difficulty."^
To this it may be added, that in the abote objection we have a clear
evidence that from the phenomena of Nature rash and hasty conclu-
sions are often drawn, which although at first sight plausible, will not
bear the test of examination. The argument of Recupero might
have been considered decisive, bad not the ruins of' Herculaneum
demonstrated itfr fallacy. •
Infidels, to invdidate the Mosaic history, have contended that if all
mankind sprung from Noah, the second parent of the human race, it is
impossible to account for the origin of the blacks^ if the patriaroh and
his wife were UfMte. But this difference in' color does not invalidate
the narrative of Moses ; for it has been ascertained that the influence
of climate, and the local circumstances of air, water, food, customs,
&c., are sufficient to account for the dissimilarity which is discovered
in the appearance of different nations. *' Man,"^ says Count Buffon,
who was not famed for partiality fb the Schptur^ history, <* though
white in Europe, black in Africa, yellow in Asia, and red in America,
is still the same animal, tinged only with the color of the climate.
Where the heat is excessive, as in Guinea and Senegal, the people are
perfectly black ; where less excessive, as in Abyssiniay the people are
less* black ; where it is more temperate, as in Barbary and Arabia,
lliey are brown ^ and where mQd, as in Europe and Lesser Asia,
< tfiey are fair." In further corroboration of the influence of climate
on the hqman complexion, it may be remarked that there is a colony
, of Jews^ who have been settled at Cochin on the Malabar c<^t from
a very remote period, of which they have lost the memory. Though
* Home** IntrodudioB to the Critical Study of the Scriptuiei, vol L p. 19.
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104 CRBDIBIUTY AND ANTIQUITY OF
onginally a fair people from Palestine, and from their cualoiiis, pre*
serving themselvas unmixed, they are now become as black as the
other Malabarians, who are scarcely a shade lighter than the negroes
of Guinea, Benin, or Angola. At Ceylon also, the Portuguese, who
setded there only a few centuries ago, are become blacker' than the
nadves : and the Portuguese who setded nearer the Mundingoes, about
three hundred years since, diffir so litde from them as to be caslled
negroedf which they resent as a high insult.
In short, to adopt the memorable conclusion of Count Buffout who
deduced it after a minute enquiry from a great number of the best a^
tested observatiods ; "From every circumstance proof may be ob- -
(ained that mankind ate not composed of species essentially different
from each other ; that, on the contrary, there was originally but one
individual species of men ; which after being multiplied apd diffused
over the whole surface of the earth, underwent various chatges, hom
the influence of climate ^ from the difference of food and mode of liv«
ing ; from epidemical disorders, as also, from the .intermixture, ad jhfir
finitum^ of individuab mose or less resembling each other ; that tiiese
alterations were at first less considerable, and confined to individuals ;
that afterwards, fronf the continued action of the above causes beccnn-
ing more general, more sensible, and more fixed, they formed varie-
ties of the species ; and that these varieties have been, and still art
perpetuated from generation to generation, in the same manner as cer-
tain disorders, and certain nlaladies, pass from parents to diildren." *
Buffon did not believe in the truth of the Mosdc history ; and al«
though he was forced to die conlusion that there was originally but
one individual species of m^, while Darwin and othen derive the
human race from the oyster, h^ derives it from the monkey.
As this objection is viewed of great force, it is thought proper here
to present to the i^sader Dr. Good*s convincing argument, in sup-
port of the statements of Moses upon this subject; who, in his lec-
ture on the varieties of the human race, holds the following language :
" The Mosaic statement has met with two distinct classes of opponents^
each of which has pretended to a different ground of objection. The
one has regarded this statement as altogether untrue, and never in^
tended to be believed ; as a mere allegory or fiction; a beautifiil my-
thos often indulged in by other oriential writers in the openiags of .
their respective histories;, as an enlivening frontispiece to a book of
instruetion. The other dass has been in some degree more guarded
* Buflbn*t Natnnd Hkitfky, voL L p. Sai.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTUBES. IM
in ilB attaek; and has lather oomplained that the atatemoit is inexpli-
cit than that it is untrue. These last philosophera have found out
^t in its common mterpretation it does not accord with the Hving vo-
lume of nature ; and they hence contend that the common interpreta-
tion is incorrect ; they perceive, or think they perceive, a variety of
chasms in the sacred text which h is necetsaiy to fill up hefore it can
be made to harmonize with natural facts \md appearances.
At the head of the former class st^d the names of some of the
£r8t natural historians and scholars of modem times, as Linnieus,
Buflfon, Helvetiug, Monboddo, and Darwin. And from whom do
these philosophers, thus departing from the whole letter and spirit of
the Mosaic history, pretend to derive the race of man ? The four
former from the race of monkeys ; and the last, to complete the ab-
surdity, from the race of oysters ; for Dr. Darwin seriously conjec-
tures that as aquatic animals appear to have been produced before ter-
restrial, and every living substance to have originated from a form or
nucleus exquisitely simple and minute, and to have been perpetually
developihg and expanding its powers, and progressively advancing
towards perfection, man himself must have been of Ae aquatic order
on his first creation ; at that time, indeed, iiUperceptible froih his ex-
ility, but in process of years, or rather of ages, aequiring a visible or
oyster-like. form, with little gills, instead of lungs, and, like the oys-
ter, produced spontaneously, .without distinction into sexes ; that, as
leprodnction is always favorable to improvement, the aquatic or oys-
ter mannikin, by being progressively accustomed to seek its food on
die Baseent shoros or edges of the piimsval ocean, must have grown,
after a revolution of countless generations, first intp an amphibious,
and then into a terrestrial animal ; and, in like manner, fh)m being
widiout sex, first also into an androgynous form, and thence into dis-
tinct male and female.^
It is not necessary to notice this dream of a poetizing philosopher,
which had also been dreamed of long before his own day, any farther
than to remark that it is in every respect inferior to. the opinion of
two of the most celebrated schools of ancient Greece, the Epicurean
and the Stoic; who, though they disagreed on almost every other
point, concurred in their dogma concerning the origin of man ; and
believed him to have sprung, equally with plants and animals of eve-
ry kind, from the tender soil of the new-formed earth, at that time in-
* See Temple df Kahire, Cant i pp. 26, 29, iL p. 64,. W. 168, and the additbnil
on Spo&taaeoiMi YitalUy and Bepiodiiction.
U
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109 CBEDIBlLITy AMD ANTIQUrTY OP
finitely laore powerfii and prolific; prodiic«4 in ttymda of litda
wombs that rose, like moI»-hin8, over the swftce of the ground, and
were afterward tranafonned, for his nourishment, into myriads of
glandular and uMlky bulbf, so as to form a manrdlous substitnte for
^e human breast.
In the correct and eUi|;ast description of Lucretius,— '
Earth ftd flie iraTBling, the wann Mrdi clothed.
And the soft domiy graat his eouch composed.
And friTolous as sueh a theory may appear in the present day, it was
the only one which was current among the Grecian or Roman philos-
ophers, except that which supposed mankind to have been propaga-
ted by eternal generation, and of counse the uniTer8e,'like himself, to
be eternal and self-^xistent : compared with which, an origin from the
dust of the earth, even after thp manner of vegetables, is incompara-
bly less monstrous and absurd.
Let tis now pass on to the hypothesis of those modem philoso-
phers who would associate th^ tribes of man with the trib^ of the
monkey, and originate both from one common stock, in the same
manner as the ox and buflalo are said to be derived &om the bison,
ahd th^ * different varie^es of sheep from the argali.
There are a few wonderful histories iifloat of wild men and wild
women found b\ the woods of Germany apd France ; some of which
are said to have been dumb, others to have had the voice of sheep or
of oxen, and others again to have walked on all-fours. And (mm
these few floating tales, not amounting^ in modem ^mea, to more
than nme or ten, Limiacus thought proper to introduce the orang-otuig
into the human family, and to regard such instances of wild men ae
the connecting spi^ies between diss animal and mankind in a state of
civilized society. Whenoe Lord Monboddo has amused us with le-
gpnds of men found in every variation of barbarism ; in some in-
stances even ungtegarious or solitny ; in odiers, uniting, indeed, into
small hordes, but so scanty even in natural or inarticulate language, as
to be obliged to assist their own meaning by signs and gestures ; and«
c(msequently, to be incapable of conversing in the dark; of a third
sort who have in some degree improved upon thjeir natural language,
but have still so moth of tl^e savage beast belonging to th^n, as to
employ their teeth and nails,< which last are not less than an mtk
long, as weapons of defence; and of a fourth sort, found in an island
of the Indian seas, with the full possession of speech, but with taib
like those of cats or monkeys ; a set of dreadful cannibals, which at
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THB OLD TESTAMENT 0CMPTnRE& liw
*8MMoiiboddo,oiitfaeOrigin<if Luiguage, dccT^Lp. 198.480.
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1^ OREDIBILITT AND AWTIQUITK OF
Both the orang and poogo* which of all the monkey tribes make
ihe nearest ^pproaoh to the siructure of the human skeleton, have
three vertebrae fewer than man. Thiiy have a peculiar membranous
pouch conneeted with the larynx or organ of the T6ice, which be-
longs to no division of man whatever, white or black. The larynx
itself is, in consequence of this, so. ptcuUarly constructed as to ren-
der it less capable even of inartttolate sounds than that of almost eve-
ry other kmd of quadruped : and, lastly, they have no proper feet ; '
for what are so called are, in reality, as directly hands as the terminal
organs of the arms : the great toe in man, and that which chiefly en-
ables him to walk in an erect position, being a perfect thumb in th«
orang-otang. Whence this animal is naturally formed for climbing :
and its natunl position in walking, and the position which it always
assumes excepting when under discipline, is that of all-fours; the
body being supported on four hands, instead of on four feet as in
quadrupeds. And it is owin^ to this wide aad essential difference,
as, indeed, we bad occasion to observe in our last study, that M. Cu-
vier, and other . zoologists of the present day, have thought it expe-
dient to invent a new name by which the monkey and maucauco
tribes may be distinguished from all the rest ; and, instead of auADin^;
FEDS, have called them quabrumana, or <^uAi>RUMANirALs ; by which
they are at the same time equally distinguished from every tribe of
the huiisan race^ w^ich are uniformly, and. alone, BuiAinrAi..
But throwing the monlfey kind out of the question, as in no re-
spect related to the face of man, it must at least be admitted, contend
the second class of philosophers before us, that the wide differences
in form, and color, and degree of intellect, which the several divis-
ions of mankind exhibit, as you have now arranged them, must ne-
cessarily have originated fipm di^Serent sources; and that even the
Mosaic account itself will afford countenance to such an hypothesis.
This opinion was first statad» in modem times, by the celebrated
Isaac Pe3rrere, librarian to the prince of Conde ; who, about the mid-
dle of last century, contended, in a book which was not long afWr-
ward condemned to the flames, though for other errors in conjunc-
tion with the present, that the narration of Moses speaks expressly
of the creation of two distinct species of man; an elder species which
occupied a part oi the sixth day's creation, and is related in the first
chapter of Genesis; and a junior, confined to Adam and Eve, the
immediate progenitors of the Hd>rews, to whom this account was ad-
dressed ; and which is not referred <o ^ the sevenUi verse of the
second chapter, and even then without any notice of the ezaol period
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THE OLD TB8TAMENT SCIBPTUIQBa 1|§
m wlddi iSdBj were fonned. After \diich traneadiDDt obeervsei thie
writer and thoee who think with him, the historian confines himself
tmldnfy to &e annakof his own nation, or of those which were occa-
sumally connected with it Neither is it easf, they adjoin, to con-
ceiTO upon any other explanation, how Cain in so early a period of
the worid as is nsualiy laid down, could have been possessed of the
hnpienienti of husbandry which belonged to him ; or what is meant
by the fear he expressed, upon leaving his father^s family, after ihe
murder of Abel; that every one who tend him would sls^ him ; or*
again, his going forth into another country, marr3ring a wife there,
aad building a city soon after the birth of his eldest son.
Now, a cautious perusal of the Mosaic narrative will, I think, im
conlestably prove that the two accounts of the creation of man refer
to one and the same fact, to which the historian merely returns, m the
seventh verse of the second chapter, for the purpose of giving it a
nmre detailed consideration ; for it is expressly asserted in the fifth,
or preceding verse but one, as the immediate reason for ihe creation
of Adaon and Eve, that at that ^ time there was not a man to till the
ground;?' while, as to the existence of artificers competent to the f(n>
mation of the first rude instruments employed in husbandry, and a
few patches of mankind scattered over the regions adjoining that in
which Gain resided, at the period of his fratricide, it should be recol-
keted that tiiis fint fall of man by the hand of man, did not take
j^ace tin a hundred and twenty-nine years after the creation of Adam :
lor it was in his one hundred and thirtieth' year that Seth was given
to him In the place of Abd : an interval of time amply sufficient, es»
pecially if we take into consideration the peculiar fecundity of both
animals and vegetables in their primeval state, for a multiplication of
Ifae race of man, to an extent of many thousand souls.
On such a view of the subject, therefore, it should seem that the
oidy fair and ez{^cit interpretation that can be given to the Mosaic
history is, that the whole human race has proceeded from one single
pair, or in the words of anodier part of the Sacred writings, that God
^hadi made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
fece of the earth.*' * The book of nature is in this as in every other
respect in union with that of Revelation : it tells us that one single
pair must have been adequate to all the purposes on which this dm
of philosophers have grounded their objections: and it should be &r-
ther observed to them, that thus to multiply causes without necessity
*Aflti,xYiLS6.
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lia CRBDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
is not more inconsistent with the operations of nature than with the
principles of genuine philosophy*
But the question stiU returns : whence, then, proceed those aston-
ishing diversities among the different nations of mankind, upon which
the arrangement now offered is founded ?
The answer is, that they are the effect of a combination of causes :
some of which are obvious, others of which must be conjectured^
and a few of which are beyond the reach of human comprehension :
but all of which are common to other animals, as well as to man ; for
extraordinary as these diversities may appear, they are equally to be
met with in the varieties of several other kinds of animals that can be
proved to have beeii produced from a single species, and, in one or
two instances, from a single pair.
The chief causes we are acquainted with are the four fc^owing :
climate, food, manner of life, and hereditary diseases.
I. The influence which clikatb principally produces on the ani-
mal frame is on the color of the skin and on the extent of the stat-
ure. All the deepest colors we are acquainted with are those of hot
climates ; and all the lightest those of cold ones. In our own coun-
try we perceive daily, that an exposure to the rays of the sun turns
die skin from its natural whiteness to a deep brown or tan ; and that
t seclusion from the sun keeps it fair and unfreckled. In like mi&n-
ner the tree-frog (rana arborta) while living in the shade is of a light
yellow, but of a dark green when he is obliged to shif^ from the shade
into the sunshine. So the nereis lacuatrisj though whitish under the
darkness of a projecting bank, is red when exposed to the sun*s rays.
And diat the larves of most insects that burrow in the cavities of the
earth, of plants, or of animals, are white, from the same cause, is
clear, since being confined under glasses that admit the influence of
f olar light, they exchange their whiteness for a brownish hue.
The same remark will apply to plants as well as to animals; and
hence nothing more is necessary to bleach or whiten them, than to
exclude them from the light of day. Hence the birds, beasts, flow-
evt, and even fishes of the equatorial regions are uniformly brighter
or deeper tinctured in their spots, their feathers, their petals, and their
scales, than we find them in any other part of the world. And
hence, one reason at least for the deep jet which, for the most part,
prevails among mankind under the equator ; the dark-brown and cop-
per colors found under the tropics ; and the olive, shifting through
every intermediate shade to the fair and sanguine complexion, as
we proceed from the tropic of Cancer northwards. Hence, too, the
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THE OLD TESTABfENT SCRIPTURBa m
i why the Asiatic and African women, confined to the walls of
tiieir seraglios, are as white as Europeans ; why Moorish children,
of both sexes, are, at first, equally fair, and why the fairness contin*
IMS among the girls, but is soon lost among the boys.
As we approach the poles, on the contrary, we find every tiling
progresaifely whiten ; bears, foxes, hares, falcons, crows, and black-
birds, all assume the same common livery ; while many of them
change their color with the change of the season itself. For the
same reason, as also because they have a thinner mucous web, the
Abyssinians are l^ss deep in color than the negro race ; for though
iSbm geograf^cal climate is nearly the aame, their physical climate
differs essentially: the country stands much higher, and its tempera-
ture is fiir lower.
The immediate matter of color, as I had occasion to observe more
folly in a preceding lecture, is the mucous pigment which forms the
middle layer of the general integument of the skin ; and upon this the
son, in hot climates, appears to act in a twofold manner ; first, by the
direct afiinity of its colorific rays with die oxygen of the animal sur-
fiwe, in consequence of which th» oxygen is detached and flies off;
and the carbon and hydrogen being set at liberty, form a more or less
perfect charcoal according to the nature of their union ; and next, by
ike indirect influence which its calorific rays, like many other.stimu-
knts, produce upon the liver, by exciting it to a secretion of more
abundant bile, and of a deeper hue. I have formeriy remarked that
this seeood or coloring kyer of the general integument of the skin,
difiers (as indeed all the layers of the skin do) in its thickness, not
eoly in different kinds of animals, but very frequently in different
spedes, varieties, and even individuals. Thus in our own country
we find it more abundant in some persons than in others; and wher*
ever it is most abundant, we find the complexion also of a dariter and
coarser and greasier appearance, upon a common exposure to the so-
lar light and heat: and we find also, that the hair is almost uniformly
influenced by such increase of color, and is proportionally coarser and
darker.
It is of some consequence to attend to this observation ; for it may
serve to explain a physiological fact that has hitherto been supposed
of difficult elucidation.
A certain degree of heat, though less than that of ike tropics, ap-
pears fiivorable to increase of stature ; and I have already observed,
that the tallest tribes we are acquainted with are situated at the back
of Cape Horn, and the Cape of Gpod Hope. On the contrary, the
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lit CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
most dimtnutiye we are acquainted with are tho«e that inhabit the odd-
est reigions or the highest mountains in the world : snch are the Lap-
landers and Nova Zemblians in Europe, the Samoieds, Ostiacs, and
Tungooses in Asia, and the Oreenlanders and Esqnimanx in America.
8nch, too, are the Kiraos of Madagascar, if the accoant of ^lese pig**
my people may be depended npon, whose native region is stated to be
&e central and highest tracts of the island, forming, according to
Commerson, an deration of not less than sixteen or eighteen hundred
£id)oms above ihe level of the sea.
A moltitade of dbtinct tribes have of late years been discovered in
the interior of Africa, in the midst of die Uack tribes, ezhibttmg
nothing more than a red or copper hue, with lank Uack hair. And,
in like manner, around the banks of the lower Orinoco, in Mexico,
where the dimate is much hotter, there are many dans of a much
lighter hue than those around the banks of the Rio Negro, where it is
much cooler ; and M. Humboldt has hence ventured to assert that we
have here a full proof that climate produces no efiect upon the color
of the skin. Such an assertion, however, is far too hasty ; for he
should first have shown that the thickness of iite mucous web or col-
oring material is equally abundant in all these instances. For if it be
more abundant (as it probably is) in the tribes that are swarthiest, we
have reason to expect that a swarthier color will be found where
tfiere is an equd or even a less exposure to solar light and heat; and
we well know that the hair will vary in proportion.*
II. The effects of MFrnsNT kinds of food upon the animd sys-
tem are as extensire and as wonderful as those of different dimates.
The fineness and coarseness of the wool or hair, the firmness and fla-
vor of the fiesh, and in sofne degree the color of the skin, and ex-
tent of the stature, are all influenced by the nature of the diet. Oils
and spirits produce a peculiar excitement of the liver ; and like the
edorific rays of the sun, usually become the means of throwing an
overcharge of bile into the circulation. Hence the sdlow and olive
hue of many who unduly addict themsdves to vinous potation, and
who at the same time make use of but litde exercise. And hence
dso the dark and dingy cdor of the pigmy people inhabiting high
northern latitudes, to whom we have just adverted, and whose usual
diet consists of fish and other oils, often rancied and offensive.
Though it must be admitted that this color is in most instances aid-
* 8ee Essai Politiqae ear la NaaveUe Espagne, par Alexander de Humboldt, See,
pp. 84^ 86, 4Co. Paris, 1808, 1800.
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TAB OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIPTUBE8. US
•d by tht ckmdfl of smoke in which they sit constantly inTdved
in their wretched e^ins, and the filth and grease widi which they
often besmear their skins. And hence, also, one cause of their dim-
inotiTe stature ; the food they feed on being unassimilating and innn-
trati?e. Swine and all other animals fed on madder-ioot, or that of
gaUinra verum^ or ' yellow-ladies-bed-straw, hare the bones them>
•dves tinged of a deep red, or yellow : and M. Haber of Lausanne,
who has of late years made so many valnable discoveries in the nat*
mai habita of the honey-bee, has proved himself able by a difference
in the food alone, as indeed Debraw had done long before him,* to
eonvert what ds commonly, but improperly, called a neuter into a
queen bee.
in. It would be superfluous to dwell on the changes of body and
perceptive powers produced in the animal system by a diffbrencs
ni THK MANHSBS AiCD cuvTOHS. We havo the most striking proofs of
this effect in all the domestic animals by which we are surrounded.
Compare the wild horse with the disciplined ; the bison with the ox,
which last is usually regarded as the bisotl in a state of tameness ;
and the Siberian argdi with the sheep which is said to have sprung
fipom iC Compare the modem Romans with the ancient; the low
cnming and servile temper df too many of the Greek tribes of the
pneent day, that still bend to and kiss the Ottoman rod, with the
noble courage and patriotic enthusiasm of their forefiathers, who drove
badk the tyrant of Persia, and his million of men, across the Helles-
pont, and dashed to pieces the proud bridge with which he boasted
of having conquered the billows.
It is in reality from long and deeply rooted habit alone that the
bbck, red, and olive color of the Ethiopian, American, and Moguls
is eontinued in the future Hneage for so many generations after their
removal into other parta of the world ; and that nothing will, in gen-
eral, restore the skin to ite original fairness but a long succession of
intermixtures with the European variety. It is a singular circumstance
that the Uack color appears to form a less permanent habit than the
red or dive ; or, in other words, the color chiefly produced by the
action of the sun^s colorific rays, than that produced by the action of
ita calorific rays : for the children of olive and copper-colored parenta
exhibit the parental hue from the moment of birfli; but in those of
bladLs it is usually six, eight, or ten months before the black pigment
is folly secreted. We also sometimes find this not secreted at all,
* See PhiL Trmiu. for 1777, p. 16.
k2 15
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114 CRBWBILITY AND AimQUITY OF
whence the anomaly of white negroes : and sometunes only in inter-
rupted lines or patches^ whence the anomaly of spotted negroes ; and
we have eyen a few rare cases of negroes in America ^ho, in cons^
qnence of very severe iUness, have had the whole of the black pig-
ment absorbed and carried off, and a white pigment diffused in its
stead. In other words, we have instances of a black man being sud-
denly bleached into a white man. These instances are indeed of rare
occurrence ; but they are sufficient to show the absurdity of the argu-
ment for a plurality of human stocks or species, from a mere differ-
ence in the color of the skin.; an argument thus proved to be alto-
gether superficial, and which we may gravely assert to be not more
than skin-deep.
It is in consequence of this power in the system, of secreting a
dark colored pigment under particular circumstances, that we not
unfrequendy see the skin of a very fair woman, when in a state of
pregnancy, changed to a deep tawny, and almost to a black ; and it is
hence that the black pigment of the eye is perpetually maintained and
replenished.*
Dr, Wells gave a paper to the Royal Society, which was read
April 1, 1813, containing an account of a woman (Harriet Tresh)
** whose left shoulder, arm and hand are as black as the blackest Afri-
can's, while all the rest of the skin is very white. She is a native of
Sussex, and the cause she assigns is, that her mother set her foot upon
a lobster during her pregnancy." So that we have not only instances
of blacks being suddenly bleached, but of whites being made more or
less black. In like manner, confined birds sometimes become wholly
black; and are said to become so occasionally in the course of a sin-
gle night. So the male kestrel, from being barred on the tail feathers,
becomes wholly ash-colored except at the end ; and the heron, gull,
and others whose tail is white when matured, are for the first two
years mottled.
IV. But it is probable that a very great part of the more striking
distinctions we have noticed, and almost all the subordinate variations
occasionally to be met with, are the result of a morbid and heredi-
tary AFFECTION. The vast influence which this recondite but active
cause possesses over both the body and the mind are known in some
degree to every one from facts that are daily presenting themselves to
•us. We see gout, consumption, fibrofula, leprosy, propagated on
various occasions, and madness and fatuity and hypochondriacal affec-
* Camper's Lect on Comp. Anat in regard to the art of Drawing.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 115
lionfl as frequently. Hence the unhappy race of Albinoest and whole
pedigrees of 'White negroes ; hence the pigmy stature of some families^
and the gigantic size of others.
Eren when accident, or a cause we cannot discover, has produced
a preternatural conformation or defect in a particular organ, it is aston-
ishing to behold how readily it is often copied by the generative prin-
ciple, and how tenaciously it adheres to the future lineage. A pre-
ternatural defect of the hand or foot has been propagated for many
generations, and has in numerous instances laid a foundation for the
fiunily name. The names of Varus and Plautus among the ancient
Romans afford familiar exemplifications. Hence, hornless sheep and
hornless oxen produce an equally hornless offspring ; the broad-tailed
Asiatic sheep yields a progeny with a tail equally monstrous, and
often of not less than half a hundred pounds* weight ; and dogs and
eats with mutilated tails not unfrequently propagate the casud defi-
ciency.
There is a very peculiar variety of the sheep kind given in the
Philosophical Transactions for 1813, by Colonel Humphreys of
America, aiid which the American naturalists have called, from its
bowed or elbowy legs, ovis Ancon: but the common people *'the
otter breed," from its resemblance to the general form of the otter,
and a rumor that it was at first produced by an unnatural intercoune
between individuals of the two distinct kinds. Its size is small ; the
fuQ weight being about forty-five pounds, with loose articulations,
crooked fore4egs, and great feebleness of power ; whence it walks
with difficulty, and is therefore quiet, and not fond of rambling.
Accident seems to have produced this kind first, but the form has been
most correctly preserved in the progeny ; and so tenaciously, that if a
common sheep and ancon sheep of either sex unite, the young will be
eidier a perfect ancon, or have no trace of it ; and if two are lambed at
the same time, and one be of one variety and the other of the other,
each is found to be perfect in its way, without any amalgamation.
In like manner, in all probability, from some primary accident,
resulted the peculiar shape of the head and face in most nations as
wdl as m most families ; and hence, too, those enormous prominences
on the hinder parts of one or two of the nations at the back of the
Cape of Good Hope, of which an instance was not long since exhib-
ited in this country with some degree of outrage on moral feeling.
Man, then, is not the only animal in which such variations of form
and feature oqcot ; nor the animal in which they occur either most fre-
qnendy or in the most extraordinary and extravagant manner.
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115 CHEDffilUTY AND ANTIQUITY (W?
M. Blomeiibach, who has ponmed this interesting snbject with a
UveUoess the most entertaining, and a chain of argument the most
convincing, has selected the swine genus from among many other
quadrupeds that would have answered as weU, especially the dog and
the sheep, in order to institute a comparison of this very kind ; and
he has ^mpletely succeeded in showing that the swine, even in coun«
tries where we have historical and undeniable proofii, as especiaUy in
America, of its being derived from one common and imported stock»
exhibits, in its different varieties, distinctions not only as numerous
and astonishing, but, so far as relates to the exterior frame, of the very
same kind as are to be met with in the different varieties of the human
species.
In regard to size, the Cuba swine, well known, as he observes, to
have been imported into that island from Europe, are at the present
day double the height and magnitude of the stock from which they
were bred. Whence we may well laugh at every argument in favor of
more than one human stock or species drawn from the difference of
stature in different nations of men. In regard to color they display
at least as great a diversity. In Piedmont, the swine are black ; in
Bavaria, reddish-brown; in Normandy, white. Human hair, ob-
serves M. Blumenbach, is somewhat different from swine's bristles ;
yet in the present point of view they may be compared with each
other. Fair hair is soft, and of a sUky texture ; black hair is coarser,
and often woolly. In like manner, amcmg the white swine in Nor-
mandy, the bristles on the body are longer and softer than among
other swine ; and even those on the back, which are usually stouter
than the rest, are flaccid, and cannot be employed by the brush-
makers. ,
The whole difference between the cranium of a negro and that of a
European is in no respect greater than that which exists between the
cranium of the wild boar and that of the domestic swine. Those
who are in possession of Daubenton's drawings of the two, must be
sensible of this the first moment they compare them together. The
peculiarity among the Hindoos of having the bone of the leg remark-
ably long, meets a precise parallel in the swine of Normandy, which
stand so high on their hind quarters, that the back forms an inclined
plane to the head ; and as the head itself partakes of the same direc*
tion, the snout is but little removed from the ground.
In some countries, indeed, the swine have degenerated into races
that in singularity far exceed the most extravagant variations that
have been found ^ong the human species. What can differ more
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TBB OLD TESTAMEKT SCSIPTUKBa II7
widely than a cloven foot and a solid hoof? yet swine are fonnd with
bo&: the variety with a solid hoof was known to the ancients, and
stiD exists in Hongary and Sweden : and even the common sort that
were carried by the Spaniards to die isle of Cuba, in 1509, have since
degenerated into a variety with a hoof of the same solid kind, and of
the enormoos size of not less than half a span in diameter.
How absurd then to contend that ihe distinctions in the different
varieties of the hnman race must have proceeded from a plurality of
species, while we are compelled to admit that distinctions of a similar
kind, bat more numerons and more extravagant, have proceeded from
m eiBgle species in other animals !"*
Infidels urge against the integrity of the Mosaic account of the
delnge that many nations, especially die Chinese, Egyptians, Chalde-
ans, and Hindoos, trace back their own history through thousands of
years prior to the dale of that event, as given by Moses ; and it is
maintained that as these nations appear at one period to have been
much more civilised than they are at present, their statements, resting
as ihey do, upon proofs of astronomical calculations, are not to be
rqeeted. It is conceded that among the nations alluded to, but more
especiaUy among the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Hindoos, the science
of astronomy was cultivated at an early period. It is equally trae that
diey lay claim to an antiquity totally irreconcilable with the truth of the
Mosaic history ; but it is a great mistake to suppose that the justice
of their claims hat, in a single instance, been substantiated by any*
^bing more trust-worthy than their own bare assertions.
With respect to the Egyptians, all that is necessary to convince
any one that their pretensions are wholly fabulpus, is a perusal of the
account given by Herodotus of their pretensions, and the grounds on
which they are supported. The reader has already seen the falladous
diaracter of the infidel argument drawn from the supposed zodiacs of
Latopolis and Tentyra. With regard to the Chaldeans it may suffice
to say, that though Alexander is reported to have discovered in Baby-
lon observations for 1909 years previous to his arriva), the very com-
mencement of their chronology has been proved to go no farther back
than the era of king Nabonassar, or 747 years before Christ. It is
ihe same with the Chinese, whose calculations carry on the very face
of them proofs of their absolute contradiction to matters of fact.
And the records of the Brahmins of India appear daily, less and
leas valuable, as they come to be examined by competent judges.t
t "
* Dr. Good's Book of Nature, pp. 261-^69.
I ^ W. Jona dotes his essay on the antiqiiity of the Indian xodiac in the fl;^
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118 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
Hie Hindoos distingaish the present age of the world into foar
grand periods denominated ytigs. The first, or Satya-yng, compre-
hends a period of no less than 1,728,000 years ; the second, or Tata-
yug 1,296,000; the third, or Dwaper, 864,000; and the fourth, or
€ali-3rug, 423,000. Of these the three first are expired, and in the
year 1843 of the Christian era, 4937 of the last From the com«
mencement of the Satya-3rug, therefore, to the year 1843, is compre-
hended a space of 3,892,937. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the
inconsistency with all credibility of such a theory as this is, especially
wheti we are informed that one sovereign only filled the throne during
the whole of the first yug. It is also worthy of remark that while
the Hindoos pretend to describe with accuracy the principal events
which befell from the commencement of the Satya-yug down to
the 446th year before Christ, their system of chronology then totally
ceasest which is at variance with the ordinary course of things. Mr.
Mill, in his valuable history of India, treating of this subject says : «< It
is a most suspicious circumstance, in the pretended records of a nation^
when we find positive statements for a regular and immense series of
years in the remote abyss of time, but are entirely deserted by them,
when we descend to ages more nearly approaching our own. Where
annals are real they become circumstantial in proportion as they are
recent; where fable stands in the place of fact, the times over which
memory has any infinence are rejected, and the imagination rests in
&ose in which it is unrestrained."
Sir W. Jones has shown that the traditions of the present heathen
nations of Asia are not of more authority than those of the ancient
nations of Europe. He says, «< We find no certain monument or
even probable tradition of nations planted, empires and states raised,
laws enacted, cities built, navigation improved, commerce encouraged,
arts invented, or letters contrived, above twelve or at most fifteen or
sixteen centuries before the birth of Christ And it is a well known
fact that for the first thousand years of that period, we have no history
unmixed with fable, except that of the turbulent and variable, l>ut
lowing language. **The result of Newton's reseaiches into the primitive sphere
was, that the practice of observing the stars' began in Egy^t in the days of Ammon,
and was propagated thence by conquest in the reign of his son Sisac, into Africa,
Europe, and Asia; since which time AUas formed the sphere of the Lybiann; Chi-
ron, wat of the Greeks; and the Chaldeans, a sphere of their own. Now I hope, on
Mine other occasions^ to satisfy the public, as I have perfectly satisfied myself, that
the practice of observing the stars began with the rudunents of civil socie^, in the
country of those whom we call Chaldeans ; from which it was propagated into
Egypt, India, Greece, Italy, and Scandinavia, before the reign of Sisac or Sacya,
who by conquest spread a new system of religion and philosophy from the Nile to
Ihe Ganges, about a thousand yean before Christ"
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIPTURE8. 119
eminenily distingaished nations descended from Abraham." He also
•ays of the Chinese that ** they do not even pretend that any histor^
ical monument existed among them in the age of Confucius, about
eleren hundred years before the Christian epoch." And the re-
iearehes of those who are most deeply skilled in the literature and
antiquity of the Hindoos, have shown that the dawn of true Indian
history appears, only three or four centuries before the Christian era,
the pveoeding ages being clouded by allegory and fable.
Infidels adrance the condition in which America stood when dis-
eovered by Columbus, as an unanswerable argument against the
Mosaic theory of the population of the earth. But the truth is that
there exists so marked a similarity between the formation, customs,
manners, habits, and language of the inhabitants of both the old and
new world, that however diversified they may be in more minute
respects, leave no reasonable doiibt as to their common origm.
Dr. Robertson, treating of the Americans, says : ** There is such a
striking similitude, in the form of their bodies and the qualities of their
minds, that notwithstanding the diversities occasioned by the influence
of climate, or unequal progress in improvement, we must pronounce
them to be all descended from the same source. It is remarkable that
io every peculiarity, whether in their persons, or dispositions, which
diancterizes the Americans, they have some resemblance to the ru^e
tribes scattered over the north-east of Asia, but almost none to the
natives settled in the northern extremities of Europe. We may
therefore refer them to the former origin, and conclude that their Asi-
atic progenitors, having settled in those parts of America where the
proximity of the two continents has been discovered, spread gradually
over its various regions. This account of the progress of population
m America coincides with the traditions of the Mexicans themselves
coDceming their own origin, which, imperfect as they are, were pre-
served with more accuracy, and merit greater credit, than those of
any other people in the new world. According to them, their remote
ancestors came from a remote country situated to the north-west of
Mexico. The Mexicans point out their various stations, as they
advanced from this into the interior provinces ; and it is precisely the
same route which they must have held, if they had been emigrants
from Asia. The Mexicans, in describing the appearance of their pro-
genitors, their manners and habits of life at that period, exactly delin-
eate diose of the rude Tartars, from whom I suppose them to have
sprung."
Since the-dsys of Dr. Robertson, and especially within the last few
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120 CREDIinJTT AND ANnQUITT OF
j—iBf such diseoTories have been made as satisiketorily prove the
troth of his theory, that this continent was originally peopled by im-
miction from Asia. And it has been found that two dktinet races of
men, at different periods, have passed from that continent to America*
The first, the aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico and Peru; and the
second, the race of Indians now interspersed over the continent*
Those who have examined the contents of the many ancient moonds^
which are to be met with in almost every section of the valley of the
Mississippi, are agreed that they are not the works of the present race
of Indians, because they display marks of skill and mechanical ingenu-
ity, and must have been produced by the efforts of an untiring perse*
verance, none of. which it is well known the North American Indians
possess. Besides, the crania found in them present such appearan-
ces, especially an irregular flatness in the occipital region, evidently
produced in yetUhf by artificial iTieons, as distinguish them from, not
only the present Indians, but so far as known, from any other nation
now in existence.
That these mounds were not the woi^ of the ancestors of the ex-
isting Indians is further evident from the fact, that they have no tradi-
tions by which to be enabled to say, when, by whom, or for what
purpose they were made. But some of them have traditions that
their ancestors, many hundred years ago, resided in the western pari
of the American continent ; but upon emigrating to the eastward*
when they arrived at the NamoBsi Sipu, the river of fish (Mississippi^)
they encountered a very powerful nation, who had many large towns
on the great rivers flowing through their lands, with wh<Nn they
waged a bloody and long continued war, which resulted in the aban-
donment of the country by its former possessors, who fled down the
Mississippi, whence they never returned.
The probability is that this is the race by whom the mounds were
erected. Be this as it may, those by whom these mounds were made
have been identified with the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, both
by the existence of similar works in Mexico and Peru, and also - by
the cranial developments already adverted to, especially the irregular
flatness pr^uced by artificial means. Besides, it is well known that
when America was discovered, the Aztecs, Toltecans, and Tlascalan89
who inhabited Mexico, the Muyscas who dwelt in what is now^ Co-
lombia, and the Peruvians, dwelt in cities, were skillful in the manu-
facture of cloths, ingenious in the mechanical arts, and possessed
some knowledge of astronomy and general science, while the rest of
America was in a stat^ of savage ignorance. Among them national
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THB OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURE& . 121
annals hare been found, which go back to the tixth century 6f the
Christian era ; and we are informed that they relate that an eminent
warrior, 'Gltihy led from the unknown regions of Aztalan and Teo-
folhoacan, the northern nations, into, the plains of Anahuac (Mex«
ico.) Those who are. versed in the language, tell us, that Aztalan:
was the name of the country whence they were expelled, and that
die term signifies near tpater^ which, say they, was probably so
named from its proximity to large bodies of water. Teocolhuacan,
we are told, signifies near, or in the midst of ihe houses of God,
Prom which it is inferred that they formeriy resided between the
great lakes of the United States and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers,
which territory is still covered with the vestiges of the teocallis, high
{ilaoes, and tumuli.
In Delafield*s Inquiry into the Origin and Antiquities of Ammca,
there is a very long Aztec map delineating the travels of that race, and
giving a narrative of their slow and polemic journey southwardly,
until they feache'd.Anahuac. This curious. document wa? obtained
in Mexico, and appears to be both genuine' and authentic, and an
examination of it is calculated to convince every candid mind that
die race must have originally come firom Asia by Bhering's Straits,
^iftd that during their slow progress; they built many towns and tu*
mulL
That the Indians now existing in North America,' originally pro-
ceeded from Asia, and belong to the Mongolian family is pioved by
Ibose versed in iuch inquiries. 1st. By their cranial developments,
which, say they, differ from those of the Caucasian and Ethiopian
races, but bear a striking resemblance to the Mongolian. Pritc^ard.
says, '* tt seems doubtfql whether there' are any strongly marked and
universal characters which distinguish the skulls of the American na-
tions firom those of the northern Asiatics'. Travelers who have describ-
ed particular nations among the aborigines of America, have oiVen been
struck with their resemblance, in feature and the shape of the head,
to the Kalmuc or Mangole race. To this race many other nations in
die north of Asia bear a strong resemblance.^ From the numerous
assertions to be found in a variety of authors, of this analogy, it would
appear to be very decidedly maintained ; dnd we do not find that any
deariy defined difference has been' generally proved between the two
classes -Of nations."-^ From this« is inferred an original affinity
between the Indians of N^rth America and the tribes of northern
*PhjncsiHiftoiyof HankiodiVoLLp. 182.
16
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18S CREDiBIUTT AND ANnQUTTY OP '
Asia. 2d. By a similarity in languages. Pr9fe880T Barton and Valer
give the following, as the resultof their labor: ««In eighly-three Amer-
ican languages, one hundred and seventy words have been found* the
roots of which have beien the same in both continents : and it is easy to
perceive that this analogy is not accidental, since it does not rest mere-
ly on imitative harn^oi^y, or on that conformity of oigans which pro-
duces almost an identity in the first sounds articulated by children."*^
A few ej^amples from Vater may serve as a specimen of these anal- .
ogies. The English word Man, in Tuscarora, is Nekets ; in Kalmuc,
Nockvet. Mother, ii^ Tuscarora, is ^nah ; in Tungusian, Ant^*
Child, in Delaware, is Nitsch ; in Samoide NhUschu.
3d. By their roving, wild and savage disposition. Their home
is the forest, and a roaming and savage life seems essential to their
existence. Civilization exterminates them as it does the wild animals
among which they have livedo and on which they have subsisted ; and
it is utterly impossible to render the entire Indian a civilized man.
Just so it ifl| with the Mongolian rape in northern Asia f they are divi-
ded into n>any, tribes, whose customs, habits, and languages 'are in
many respects dissimilar, but they all lead a roving and savage life ;
both are given tp war, and to the chase ; and they both reject the ad-
vantages of civilization. By these affinities the North American Indi-
ans and the northerly Asiatic tribes have been identified.
The evidelices relied upon to prove that the ancient Mexican^ and
Peruvians originally came from Asia are pardy before the reader.
Those who have inve|itigated the interesting subject of their origin,
trace them to ancient Egypt and southern Asia; and tp this conclusion
they have been brought, 1st; By philological affinities existing between
the languages of the inhabitants of these distant regions : a few instan*
oes will illustrate the connection between them. Koempfer says that,
<* Cami is the name of 4he gods* of Japan." Robertson says that,
**Cemi is that of the Caciques of Mexico." And Parson, iA his
*< Remains of Japhet," informs us, that Cama, the soul, is the root of
the.woids P^cha Camac, that Pacha-Chamac signifies Sovereign Lord,
tad was apphed by the Peruvians , to their Creator^ According tQ
. Vega, Pacha means Sovereign, as it does in the. Moslem tongue, and
Camac means God, as does Cami, in southern Asia. 2nd. By a stri-
king resemblance in their mytholc^. Sir W.Jones states that Rama,
the Hindoo god, is one of Ui'e children of the sun, and that his wife's
name is Sita. The great festiv^ of the Peruvian* was that of the
* Trans. Views of CoidiUeni, ToL L p. 19.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 188
» or *< Ray mi ;" iheir Incas boasted that- they were descended from
tiie suD, and they style this festival Bama SUoa. }* The Egypti^
women/' saiil the Bishop of Landaff, "made sacred cakes of flour,
which they offered to the Queen of Heaven, at their principal solar fes-
tivals, called i?aytm and CUoa. * The Peruvian women did the same.
It 18 also a Hindoo custom still existin<g."* Both the Mexicans and
Hindoos, as has been showA in* a former chapter, had some ideas of
zstq>reme Qod, believed by them to be an infinite and invisible Spirit
Both races believed in the transmigration of souls into the bodies of
birds, of clouds, of animals, and of reptil^. Both nations believed
in a perfect succession of worlds, in their ulnmate destruction and
renovation ; and the -revolting practice of offering buman victims to
their idols equally obtained in both continents.
It has also been proved, thjit the religious processions of both na-
lions were identical. In Mexico, the idol god. was placed, in a boat or
ark, and carried upon tHe shoulders of the priests, and was believed to
direct them where to carry it, what ta dp, and where to build their
eities ; a custom which,. as will shortly l^e proved, obtained in Egypt
and other eastern countries^ It has aLready been shown that the firat
iddatry in the east was the worship of the heavenly bodies. The
history of tlie Peruvian^ ^d Mexicans shows that the same idolatry
obtained among them, and the appearance of the Mexican temples
eonfinns the truth* of that history. In both continents, the sacred
serpent was an object of worship ; and the cavern temples of Nubia
are found in America, with the SBine three entrances, and both<admit*
ting no light, because the worship of both was fit only to be paid in
darkness. In the east vestal virgins were charged to keep the sacred
fire ; the same custom obtained in the west, and the same penalties
annexed to neglect. In a word, the evidences of identity drawn from
the mythology and religious customs of the ancient. Hindoos, Egypt-
ians, Mexicans and Peruvians, are both numerous -and overwhehn*
inf. 8d. By the striking resemblance of the astronomical systems
of these nations. It has been proved that the Chinese calendar is
founded on precisely the same principles as that of the Mexicans.
They had two sets of hieroglyphics:; the first consisted of ten 9tem»^
and the other of twelve 6rancAe», and the only difierence between
their scheme and that of the Me^cicans, was in the length of the dal-
piUi, and the cycle. The principle, we are informed,'in both cases is
the same ; but the Chineso cycle contains sixty years, while that of
: , ^ ^ -2 , ^
* American Antiquitifls, pp. 81, 88.
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124 CRBWBILITy AND. ANTIQUITY OP
the Mexicans contained fiffy-two years. Four of the Mexicai^ signs
exactly correspond with the zodiacal signs of Indja ; e^ht witl^ those
of Thibet, others with the Chinese and Mogule, three with the Tar-
tar, and six with ^ose of Siam and Japan. • *
. To say nothing of the convincing proofs which have been adduc^
to show that the hieroglyphic mode of writing practTced in Mexico,
was the same «s ithait in China, and that ihe architecture of the Mex*
icans is identical with that which, in the earliest ages of the worid,
was (practiced on the eastern continent; their traditions alone satis-
factorily prove that the ancient Mexicans must have originally pro-
ceeded from Asia to America, for as has already been seen, they pos-
sess traditions of the temptation of EJve by the serpent, of the mUr-.
der of Abel by his brother C^iui, and of the rejection of Cain's offer-
ing. They had, also, tradition^ of the flood, of the preservation of
Noah in the ark, of the destruction of Babel, of the overthrow of the
cities of the plain by fire from heaven, and of the famine in Egypt.
From the evidences adduced, is it not manifest that the ancient
Mexicans and Persians, must have been a tribe of. the Hamian race
mentioned by Sir William. Jones, who were the originators of that
system of idolatry which- is stiQ to be found in India, and which per-
iled, not only ancient Greece , and Romp, but almost the whole
world ; and which, from its universality, proves that all nations must -
have been originally at on^ and the same school, where they learned
a common worship! The Bible point? out that, school, and the spol^
of earth where the Whole human family were assembled together, to
receive this ooi|imon instruction, fhst land was the plains of Shi-
nar, and the Bible is the only book in the worid, in which a record of
this great fact is made. If the Infidel still contends that the state-
nients of Moses are incredible, and that America was not originally
peopled by immigration from the eastern continent; seeing that the
evidences that the human race must have descended from one and the
same stock, are sd overwhelming, his only refuge is to assert, and
without a shadow of proof, stoutly to maintain that mankind origin-
ated on the continent of America; from whence, at a period, and by
means tmknown, they emigrated to the eastern contineilt, and the isles
of the seas. '
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THE OLD TEaTAMENT SCRIFTUBBS. .185
SECTION I.
' Ip 80 general a calaaiity as is recorded in the narrative of the' Do*
luge, really befell mankind; and from which, only a single fam-^
fly of ^ who lived th^n on the face )of the earth was preserved*
it would be natural to expect some memorials of it in the traditionary
records of Pagan history, as well as in the sacred volume, where its
peculiar cause, and the circumstances which attended it, are so distinct-
ly and so fully related. Its magnitude and 'singularity could scarce*
ly &il to make an indelibly impression on the minds of the survivors ;
which would be communicated from them to their children, and would
not be easily effaced from the traditions of their latest posterity. A
deficiency in such traces of this awfbl calamity, though perhaps it
might not serve entirely to invalidate our belief of its reality, would
certainly tend considerably to weaken its claim to credibility ; it be-
ing scarcely probable* that the knowledge of it should be utterly lost
10 the rest of the world; and confined to the docnm^ts of the Jewish
nation alone. What might have been expected, has actually been
realized; and the evidence which has been brought from.almest eve-
ry quarter of the world, to bear upon the reality of this event, is of
tiie most conclusive and irresistable character; and every investi-
gation, whcither etymological or historical, which has been made,
most satis&ctorily provesi that such a calamity did befall the human
race.
According to Br3rant and Faber, to whose learned investijgations of
this subject, mankind are deeply indebted ; the memory of Uie deluge
was incorporated with almost every part of the Gentile mythology
and wonhip. Noah, under a vast multitude of characters, being one
of their first deities, to whom all the nations of the heathen world
looked up, as their founder ; and to some circumstance or other, in
whose history, and that of his sions and the first patriarchs, most* if
not all of their religious ceremonies may be considered as not indi^
tinetly referring. Traces of these, ' neither vague nor obscure, they
conceive to be fopnd in the history and chara($ter not only of Deucal-
ion, but of Adas, Cronus or datum, DionusoSr Inachus, Janus, Mi-
nos, Zeus, and othera among the Greeks ; of Isis, Osiris, Sesostrift,
Cannes, Typhon,.&c., among the Egyptians; of Dagon, AgrueiUs,
and Sydyk, among the Phenicians ; of Astarte, Dorceto &c, amotig the
Assyrians; of Budha, Menu, Vishnu, ^., among ^ Hindoos; of
Fohi, and a deity sepresented as sitting upon the lotos in the midst of
the waters, among Uie Chinese ; of Budo and lakusi, among ihe Ja-
l2
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126 CRBDIBILmr AND. ANTIQUITY OF
panese. They dbcover allusioos to the ark in many of the ancient
mysteries, and traditions with respect to the dove and the rainhow,
by which seveAl of their allegorical personages were attended, which
ate Aot easily exfdicable unless they are supposed to relate to the his-
tory of the deluge. Sir WiUiam Jones,, in his treatise on the gods
of Greece, Italy and India, treating of Saturn, the oldest of the pa-
gan gods, says, *< The jargon of his being the son of earth and hea-
yen, is purely a confession of ignorance who were his parents, or
who his predecessors ; and there appears more sense in the tradition,
said to be mentioned by the inquisitive and well informed Plato, that
both Saturn, or time^ and his consort Cybelle, or the Earth, together
with their attendants, were the children of Ocean dnd Thetis, or, in
less poetical language, sprung from the waters of the great deep.
His distinguishing oharactei*, which explains indeed all his other titles
and functions, was expressed allegoricall/ by the stem of a ship or
galley, on the inverse of his ancient coins, for ^hich Ovid assigns a
very unsatisfactory reason, ^'because the divine stranger arrived in a
ship on the Italian coast;" as if he could have been expected on'
horse-back i>r hovering through the air; The account, quoted by
Pomey from Alexander Polyhester, casts a .clearer light, if it really
came from genuine antiquity, on the whole tale of Saturn ; that he
predicted an extraordinary fall of rain, and ordered the construction
of a vessel, in which it was necessary to secure men, beasts, birds,
and reptiles from a general inundation."
Sir. William. Jones, treating on the same subject, further says,
<* If we produce, therefore, an Indian king of divine birth, eminent
for his piety and beneficence, whose story seems evidenUy to be
that of Noah disguised by AsiaHe fiction, we may safely ofi^er a con-
jecture, that he was also the s^me personage with Saturn". This
was Menu, or SAinfAVRATA, whose pratronymic name was Vai-
vaswAta, or child of the Sun; and whom the Indians believed to
have reignied over (he whole world in the earliest age of their chro-
iiology, but to have resided in th& country of Dravira^ on the coast
, of the eastern Indian Peninsula : the following narrative of the prin-
cipal event in his life I have literally translated from the Bhagavat ;
and it is the subject of the first Purana^ entided that of the MaU
syOi or Fish. '
. Desiring the preservation of herbs, and of Brahmans^ of genii
and virtnous men, of the Vedas, of law, and of precious things, the
lord of the universe assumes many bodily shapes ; but, though he
pervlkdes^ like the air, a variety^ of beings, yet he is himself unvaried.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUiqSS. in
since lie has no quality subject to change. At the clote of the last
CalpOf there was. a general destraction occasioned by the sleep of
Brahxa; whence* his creatares in different worlds were drowned in 91
▼ast ocean. Brahma, being inclined to slumber, desiring repose sifter
a lapse of ages, the strong demon HayaorivI came near him, and
stole the Vedas^ which had flowed from his lips^ When HEitt, the
preserver of the universe, discovered this deed of the prince of Da'
navaSf he took the shape of a minute fish, called sap'htiri, A holy
king, named Satyavrata, then reigned; a servant of the spirit,
which moved on the waves, and so devout, that Water was his^ only
sustenance. He was the child of the sun, aiid, in4he present Calpa^
is invested by Nabayan in the office of Menth by the name of
Srapdhadbva, or the god of Obsequies. One day, as he was ma*
king a libation in the river Critamalc^ and held water in the palm of
his hand, he perceived a small fisb moving in it. The king of Dr(i-
vira immediately dropped the fish into the river together with the
water, which he had taken from it; when the sop^hari tl^s patheti-
cally addressed the benevolent monarch : <* Hpw canst thou, O king,
who st^Qwest affection to the oppressed, leave me in this river- water,
where I am too weak to resist the monsters of the stream, who fill
me with dread 1 " He, not knowing who had assumed the form of a
fishf applied his mind tp the preservation of the sap!Aari, both from
good nature and from regard to his own soul ; and, having heard its
very suppliant address, he kindly placed it under his protection in a
small vase full of water ; but, in a single night, its bulk was so in-
creased, that it could not be contained in the jar, and thus again ad-
dressed the illustrious prince, *' I am not pleased with living misera-
bly in this little vase ; make me a large mansion, where I may dwell
in comfort'* The king, removing it thence, placed it in the water
of a cistern ; but it grew three cubits in less than fifty minutes, and
said, ^ O king, it pleases me not to stay vainly in this yarrow cis-
tern: since thou hast granted me an asylum, give me a spacious hab-
itation.'' He then removed it, and placed it in a pool, where, hav-
ing ample space around its body, it became a fish of considerable
size. «< This abode, 0 king, is not convenient fof me, who must
swim at large in the waters : exert thyself for my safety ; and remove
me to a deep lake." Thus addressed, the pious monarch threw the
suppliant into a lake, and, when it grew of .equal bulk with that piece
of water, he cast the vast fish into the sea. When the fish was
thrown into &e waves, he thus again spoke to Sattavrata, *' Here
the homed sharks, and other monsters of great strength will devour
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iss cRBDiBnirry and AimQurrr op
me; thon fhoaldst not; O vaUant man, leave me in this ocean.**
Thus repeatedly deluded by the fish, who had addressed him with
gentle words, the king said, *< Whd art thdn, that beguUest me in that
assumed shape I Never before have I seen or heard of so prodigious
an inhabitant of the waters, who, like thee, hast filled up, in a single
day, a lake an hundred leagues in circumference. Surely, thon art
Bhaoavat, who appearest be&ro me ; the great Hbri, whose dwell-
ing was on the waves ; and who now, in compassion to thy servants,
(rarest the form of the natives of the deep. Salutation and praise to
thee, 0 first male, the lord of creation, of preservation, of destruc-
tion ! Thou art the highest object, O supreme ruler, of us thy ador-
ers, who piously seek thee. All thy delusive descents in this world
give existence to various beings ; yet I am anxious to know, for what
cause that shape has been assumed by thee. • Let me not, O lotos-
eyed, approach in vain the feet of a deity, whose perfect benevolence
has been extended to all; when thou hastshpwn us to ouf amaze-
ment the appearance of other bodies not in reality existing, but suc-
cessively exhibited.** The lord of the universe, loving- the pious
man, who thus implored him, and intending to preserve him from the
sea of destruction, caused by the depravity of the age, (hus told him
how he was to act. «' In seven days from the present time^ O thou
tamer of enemies, the three worlds will be* plunged in an ocean of
death ; but, in the midst of the destroying waves, a large f essel, sent
by me for thy use, shall stand before thee. Then shalt thou take all
medicinal herbs, all the variety of seeds ; and, accompanied by seven
Saints, encircled by pairs of' all brute animals, thou shalt enter the
spacious ark and continue in it, secure from the flood on one immense
ocean without light, except the radiance of thy holy companions.
When the ship shaU be agitated by an impetuous wind, thou shalt
fasten it with a large sea-serpent on my horn ; for I will be near thee:
dra^ving the vessel, with thee and thy attendants, I will remain on the
ocean, O chief of men, until a night of Brahma shall be completely
ended. Thou shalt then know my true greatness, rightly named the
supreme Godhead ; by my favor, all thy questions shall be answered,
and thy mind abundantly instructed." Heri, having thus directed
the monarchy disappeared ; andSATVAVRATA humbly waited for the
time, which the ruler of our senses had appointed. The pious king,
having scattered towards the east the pointed blades of the grass
darbhoj and turning his face towards the north, sate meditating on the
fiat of the God, who had borne the form of a fish. The sea, over-
whelming its shores, deluged the whole earth ; and it was soon per-
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T0E OLD* TESTAMENT 8CBIPTURE8. IM
ceiled to be aogmeoted by showers from immense clouds. He, stiU
meditating on the commafid of Bhagavat, saw. the vessel advanciaf ,
and eDtered it with the ehie£s oi MrahmoMf having carried into it the
medicinal creepers, and conformed to the directions of Heri*. The
saints thus addressed him : " O king, meditate on Cesaya \ who will,
surely, deliver us from thi^ danger, and grant us proapenty.*' The
God, being iuToked by the monarch, appeared again distinctly on the
TBBt ocean in the form of a fish, blazing like gold, extending a million
<»f leagues, with one stupendous horn ; on which Ihe king, as he ha4
before been commanded by Heri, tied the ship With a cable made of
m Tast serpent, and, happy in his pHeservation, stood praising the des-
troyer of Madhu. When the monarch- had finished his h3rmn, the
primeval male, Bhaoavat, who watched for his safety on the great
expanse of water, spoke aloud to his own divine essence, pronoun-
cing a sacred Purana^ which contained the rules of the Sanc^hga
philosophy : but it was an infinite mystery to be concealed within Uie
breast of SATTAyRATA;.who, sitting in the vessel with the saints,
beard the principle of the soul, the eternal Being, proclaimed by the
preserving power. Then Heri, rising together with Brahma, from
th^ destructive deluge, which was abated, slew the demon IIataoriva,
and recovered the sacred books. Sattavrata, instructed in all di-
vine and human knowledge, was appointed in the present Calpa, by
die &vor of Vishnu, the seventh Menu, sumamed Vaivaswata:
but the appearance of a horned fish to the religious monarch was
Hayot or delusion ; and he, who shall devoutly hear this important
allegorical narrative, will be delivered from the bondage of sin.
This epitome of the first Indian history, that is now extant, ap-
pears to me very curious and very important ; for the story, though
whimsically dr^sed up in the form of an allegory, seems to prove a
primeral tradition in this country of the tmiversal deluge described
by Moses." •
This is fi^ from being the only tradition concerning the flood, there
are many such, direct and circumstantial, the coincidence of which,
with the narrative of Moses, it will require no common degree of
seeptieism to deny. Sir W. Jones, speaking of one of the Chinese
£ibles says, *< Although I cannot insist with confidence, that the rain-
bow mentioned in it alludes to the Mosaic narrative of the flood, nor
build any solid argument on the divine person Niuva, of whose char-
aeter, and even of whose se^ the historians of China speak very doubt*
8ir W. JoDM, ToL 8, pp. 881—388.
17
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180 CRBDIBaiTY AND ANTIQUITY OP
UXfyt I may nevehheless assure you» af\er full inquiry luid considera-
tiooy that the Chinese. believed, the earth to have been wholly covered
by water, which, in works of undisputed authentici^, they describe as
flowing abutidantly, then subsiding, and separating the higher from
&e lower age^f mankind." Still morOs coincident with the Mosaic
account, is the Grecian history of the deluge as preserved by Lucian,
a native of Samosata oh the Euphrates, and its authority is the more
incontrovertible, on acicount of his being an avowed derider of all reli-
gions. He says that, *' in the age of the Scythian Deucalion, all men
perished in a general inundation of the globe.*' Speaking of the tem*
pie of liieropolis in Syria, he observes, '< Many persons assert that
this temple was erected by Deucalion the Scythian, that Deucalion in
whose days the great inundations of waters took place. I have heard
in Greece, what the Grecians say concerning this Deucalion. The
story they relate is as follows: The present race, of men is not the
first, for they totally perished ; but it is of a second generation, whi6h
being descended from Deucalion, has increased to a great multitude.
Now of the former race of men they relate this story. They were
insolent and addicted to unjust actions ; for they neither kept their
oaths, nor were hospitable to strangers, nor gave ear to suppliants,
for which reason, this great. calamity befell them: on a sudden the
earth poured forth vast quantities of water ; great showers fell, the
rivers overflowed, and the sea rose to a prodigious height, so that all
things became water, and all men were destroyed ; only Deucalion
was left to a second generation, on account of his great prudence and
piety. He was saved in this manner ; he went into a large ark or
diest, which be had fabricated, together with his sons and their wives,
and when he was in, there entered swine, and horses, and lions, and
serpents, and all other creatures which live on the earth, by pairs.
He received them all, and they did him no hurt, for the gods created
a great friendship among them, so that they sailed all in one chest
while the waters prevailed.
Accooding to . Josephus there were a multitude of ancient authors
who concurred in asserting that the world had once been destroyed by
a flood. «* This deluge,*' says he, ** and the ark are mentioned by dl
who have written barbaric histories, one of whom is Barosus the
Chaldean.'^ Eusebius informs us *that Milo, a bitter enemy of the
Jews, and whose testimony is on this account peculiarly valuable,
takes notice of the person who was saved along with his sons, from
the flood, having been, afW his preservation, driven away from Arme-
nia, whence he retired* to the mountamous parts of Syria. Abyde-
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THE OLD TESl^AMENT 8CBIPTURBB. 131
ftfier giving an accoant of the deluge, from which Xisnthrqs, the
Chaldean Noah, waa aayed, concludes with asserting an exact circum-
stance with Berosos, that the chest first rested on the mountains of
Annenia, and that its remains were used hy the natives as a talisman*
Plncareh mentions the N6aic dove* being sent out of the ark and re-
turning to it again, as an intimation to Deucalion that the storm hadt
not yet ceased. The priests of Ammonia had a custom, at particular
seasons, of carrying in procession a boat, in which was an oracular
shrine held in great veneration ; and this custom of carrying the deity
in an ark or boat was in use also among the Egyptians. Bishop
Pocoke has preserved three specimens of ancient sculpture, in which
this ceremony is displayed. They were very ancient, and found by
him in Upper Egypt The ship of Isis referred to the ark, and its
name •« Baris,** was that of the mountain corresponding to Ararat in
Armenia. Bryant finds reference to the ark in the temples of the
serpent worship called Dtocaniia; and also in that of Sevortus, fash-
ioned aAer the model of the ark, in commemoration of-which it was
built and consecrated to Osiris at Theba ; and he conjectures that the
eity, said to be one of the most ancient in Egypt, as well as the
pfovincei, was denominated from it, Theba being tb^ appellation of
the ark.
In other countries as well as in Egypt an ark, or ship, was intro-
duced into their mysteries, and often carried about in the seasons of
their festivals. He finds also in the story of the Argonauts, several
particiilaTS that are thought to refer to the ark of Noah. As many
cities, not in Egypt only and Bcsotia, but in Cilicia, Ionia, Attica,
Calaonia, Syria and Italy, were called Theba, so likewise the city of
Apamea was denominated Cibotus from kibotoi^ in memory of the
ark, and of the history connected with it The ark, according to the
traditions of the Gentile world, was prophetic, *and was regarded as a
kind of temple, and residence of the deity. It comprehended all
mankind within the circle of eight persons, who were thought to be so
highly favored of heaven, that they at last were reported to be deities.
Hence in the ancient mythology of Egypt there were precisely eight
gods ; and the ark was deemed an emblem Of the system of the heav-
ens. The principal terms by which the ancients distinguished the
9ik were Theba, Baris, Arguz, Aren, Laris, Boootus and Cibotus, and
oot of these they formed different personages.
The annexed medal, which is preserved in tbe cabinet of the king
of France, is too remarkable to be overlooked i and having been par-
ticolsrly scnitinized by the late Abbe Barthelemy, at the desire of the
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in mSDIBILITY AND ANTIQTJTrY OF
late Dr. Comb, was, by that able anti<]yuary, pronounced authentic. It
bears on one side the head of SoYerus, on the other a history in two
parts, representing two figures, enclosed in an ark or chest, sustained
by stout podts at the comers, and well timbered throughout. On die
side are letters; on the top is a doye ; in front, the same two figures
which we see in the ark are here described as come out, and departing
from their late residence. Hovering over them is the dove with a
sprig in its biU. ' (Double histories are common on medals.) The situ-
ation of these'figures implies the situation of the door; and clearly com-
memorates an escape from the dangers of water, by means of a float-
ing vessel. Mr. Bryant informs us that the letters on the ark are
N o E, as will be evident from close inspection of the medal ; and the
patriarch was Known in Grecian antiquity by the name of Noe, as by
the Hindoos he was called Nu.
These allusions to the ark, and traditions concerning the deluge,
are far from being confined to the ancient nations of Asia and Europe ;
they equally obtained among the aboriginal inhabitants of this con-
tinent, those of the West Indies and the isles of the Pacific. One
of the circumnavigators of the globe says, that some of the inhabit-
aats of the island of Otaheitae being asked concerning their origin,
answered that their supreme God, having a long time ago been angry,
dragged the earth through the sea, when their island was broken off
and preserved. . In the island of Cuba, the people arb said to believe
that the world was once destroyed by water by three persons, evi-
dentiy alluding to the three sons of Noah. It is even related that
they have a tradition among them that an old man, knowing that the
deluge was approaching, built a large ship and went into it with a
great number of animals, and that he sent out from the ship a crow,
which did not immediately come back, staying to feed on the carcases
of dead animals, but afterwards returned with a green branch in its
nouth. The author who gives the above account, likewise affirm*
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRffTUREa 138
diai it waf reported by the inhabitants of Castilla de| Oro^ in Terra
Firma, that during a universal deluge, one man aod hia children were
the only persona who escaped, by means of a canoe, and tliat from them
the world was afWwards peopled. According to the Peruvians,. in
consequence of a general inundation by violent and continued rains, a
vniversal destruction of the human race took place, a few persons only
ezeepted, who escaped into caves on the tops of Ae mountains, into
which they had previously conveyed a stock of provisions, and a num-
ber of live animals ; but for this, when tlie waters abated, the whole
race would have become extinct. Others of them affirm that only six
persons were saved by means of a float or raft; and that from them
an the inhabitants of the country are descended. They farther be-
lieve that this event took place before there were any inctu or kings
among them, and when the country was extremely populous. The
Brazilians not only preserve the tradition of a deluge, but believe that
the whole race of mankind perished in it, except one man and his
sister; according to others two brothers, with their wives, who were
preserved by climbing the highest trees on their loftiest mduntains ;
aod who afterwards became the heads of two diflerent nations. The
memory of this event they are even said to celebrate in some of
tfietr religious anthems or songs. Accosts, in his history of ihe
Indies, says that the Mexicans speak of a deluge in (heir country by
which all men were drowned, and that it was afterwards peopled by
Firaeocha who came out of the lake Titicaca ; and according to Har-
rera, the Machoachans, a people comparatively in the neighborhood
of Mexico, had a tradition that a single family was formeriy preserved
in an ark, amid a deluge of waters, and that along with them a suffi-
cient number of animals were saved to stock the new worid. Duriag
iht time that they were shut up in the ark, a number of ravens were
sent out, one of which brought back the branch of a tree.
** At the close of one of the Mexican cycles, according to some, the
first, but according to others, the fourth, which lasted four thousand
and eight years, there was a great indndation which destroyed all
mankind, except one man and woman, who saved themselves in the
trunk of a deciduous cypress. The opposite engraving, which was
originally copied from a hieroglyphic painting in New Spain, by the
Dominican monk Pedro de los Rios, so epriy as A. D. 1 566, repre-
sents the goddess of water, and Noah and his wi(e, (Coxcox and
Zoohiquetzal) seated on the trunk of a tree, covered with leaves, and
floating amidst the waters. The detached hieroglyphics on the left
hand, are thought to be the astronomical, or rather zodiacal sym-
M
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134 CREDIBILnT AND ANTIQUITY OP
boLst d^oting the day on which the catastrophe la believed to hiTO
occurred."*
The outcry of a certain clasa of Infidels is, t* Bring tu facts which
aU the v>orld agree in; facts admitted^ eatabKshed by unbiased m-
' dencCf to establish the assertion that Deity has condescended to make
known his intentions to man!" Here we have what the Infidel de-
mands. The deluge was a real occurrence which infidelity itself
cannot disprove. All mankind acknowledge that there was a de-
luge. Wherever tradition has been maintained, wherever records are
preserved; wherever commemorative rites have been instituted, the
deluge has been their subject The savage and the sage agree in
this, the deliverance of their great ancestor from destruction by a
flood. The north and the south* the east and the west, relate his
danger from overwhelming waters. But he was saved ; and howT
By personal exertion t By long supported swimming T By conceal-
ment in the highest mountains! No; but by enclosure in a large
floating edifice of his own construction — his own construction for this
' particular purpose* But this labor was long ; this was not the work
of a day; he must have foreknown so astonishing an event a
considerable time previous to its actual occurrence. Whence did he
receive this POREKNOwLBnoE ? Did the. earth inform him, that at
twenty, thirty, forty years distance it would disgorge a flood? Did
the stars announce that they would dissolve the tranquil atmosphere
in terrific rains! Whence, then, had Noah his foreknowledge I
Did he hope to build when the first showers descended! This was
too late. Had he been accustomed to rains formerly, why think them
now of importance ! Had he never seen rain, what could induce him
to provide against it! Why this year more flian last year; why last
year more than the year before! These enquiries are direct: we
cannot flinch from the fact Erase it from the Mosaic records ; still
it is recorded in Greece, in Egypt, in India, in Britain and America.
It is registered in the very sacra of the pagan world, and is annually
renewed by commemorative imitation, where the liberty of opinion is
not fettered Jby prejudices derived from Hebrew institutions, or by
the <* sophisticated inventions of Christianity." Let the Infidel turn
to the right hand or to the left hand. . Jjei him take his choice of difli-
culties ; 'disparage all mankind as fools, as willing dupes to supersti-
tious commemorations, as leagued throughout the world to delude
fliemselves in order to impugn his wisdom, his just thinking, hie love
* American Antiqoitief, p. 40.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTTrRES. 18ft
of trath, his tfnbiased integrity ; or he mast allow that this fact, at
least this one fact, is established by testimony abundailtly sufficient.
BtU let kim remember^ that if it be eatabliehed it implies a coMinr-
N10ATI0N FROM GOD TO HAN. WhO COULD INFORM NoAH T Why
did not that great patriarch proYide against Jire f — against earthr
quakes? — against explosions f Why against a deluge? — ^why
against water? If the Infidel wiU be honest with himself, he^jnust
say, this was the dictation of Deity; for only he w1)q made the world
could predict the time, the means, the causes of thiff devastation ;
only HE could excite the hope of restoration, or suggest a method of
deliverance.*
SECTION n.
Moflss informs us that Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Ja-
phet, from whom, according to his statements, all mankind are de-
scended ; and the very names of several of the earliest nations, such
as the Ganaanites, Assyrians, Elymcsites, Lydians, Mede^ and He-
brews ; the descendants of Canaan, Ashur, Elam, Lud, Madai, and
Eber, the grandsons of Noah, corroborate to the letter, the facts* re-
corded by Moses concerning the division of the earth among the
descendants of that patriarch.
Sir William Jones, in his address on the origin of families and na-
tions, holds the following language : •• We see five races of men pe-
culiarly distinguished, in the time of Mohammed, for their multitude
and extent of dominion ; but we have reduced them to three f because
we can discover no more, that essentially differ in language^ religion^
manners, and other characteristics : now these three races how vari-
ously soever they may at present be dispersed and intermixed, must
(if the preceding conclusions be justly drawn) have migrated origin- •
ally from a central country ;*' again, he says " Thus, then, have we
proved that the inhabitants of Asia, and consequently, as might be
proved, of the whole earth, sprang from three branches of one stem,
and that these branches have shot into thejr present state of luxuri-
ance in a period comparatively short, is apparent from a fact univer-
sally acknowledged, that we find no certain monupenit, or even prob-
able tradition of nations planted, empires and states raised, laws en-
acted, cities built, navigation improved, commerce encouraged, arts
invented, or letters contrived above twelve, or at most, fifreen or six-
* See Walion, and En. R. Knowledge. .
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186 CHEDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITy OP
teen centuries before the birth of Chrbt; and from another fact, whidi
cannot be controverted, that seven hundred or a thousand years would
have been fully adequate to the supposed propagation, diffusion
and establishment of the human race.*' The same author further
says, ** The sons of the just and virtuous man, whose lineage was
preserved from the general inundation, traveled, we are told, as the^
began to multiply, in three large divisions, variously subdivided ; the
childijen of Yafetseem, from the traces of Sclavonian names, and the
mention of their being, enlargedf to b^ve spread themselves far and
wide, and to have produced the race which, for want of a correct ap-
pellation, we call Tartarian; the colonies formed by th(B sons of
Ham and Shbm, appear to have been nearly simultaneous, and among
those of the latter branch, we find so many names incontestably pre-
served at this hour in Arabia, that we cannot hesitate in pronouncing
them the same people, whom hitherto we have denominated Arabs;
while the former branch, the most powerful and adventurous of whom
were the progeny of Cush, Misr, and Rama (names remaining un-
changed in Sanscrit^ and highly revered b/ the Hindoos,) were, in
aU probability, the race which I call Indian. jOf Cush the son of
Ham, he says, «< When we find the same words, letter for letter, and -
in a sense precisely the same, in difierent languages, we can scarce
hesitate in allowing them a common origin ; and not to depart from
the example set before us, when we see Cush or Cus (for thp Sanscrit
name also is variously pronounced) among the sons of Brahma, that
is« among the progenitors of the Hindoos, and at the head of an an-
cient pedigree preserved in the Ramayan; when we me^t with hi«% ,
name again in the family of Rama ; when we know that the name is
venerated in the highest degree, and given to a sacred grass described
as a Poa by Kobnio, which is used with a thousand ceremonies in
the oblations to fire, ordained by Menu, to form the sacrificial zone
of the Brahmins, and solemnly declared in the Veda to have sprung
up soon after the deluge, whence the Puranics consider it as the
bristly hair of the boar which supported the globe ; when we add that
one of the seven dtcipas or great peninsulas of this earth, has the
same appellation, \ve can hardly doubt that Cush or Mosbs, and VsJ*
mie, was the same personage and an ancestor of the Indian race.
The saiye author further states on this interesting subject, ** From
the testimonies adduced; it seems to follow, that the only human fam-
ily after the flood, established themselves in the northern parts of
Iran ; that, as they multiplied, they were divided into three distinct
branches^ each retaining little at first, and losing the whole by de-
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THB OLD TSSTAIONT SCRIPTObBft. 187
gre689 of. Ilidr ooamMm primary langnage, bat agreeing 'flererally on
new expreesions for new, ideas ^ that the branch of Tafbt waa en*
laorged in many scattered shoots over the north of Europe and Asia,
<litfii^'ii|r themselves as far as the western and eastern seas, and» at
length, in the infancy of navigation, beyond them both ; that they cul-
tivated no liberal arts, and had no use of letters, but formed a variety
of dialects, as their tribes were variously ramified ; that, secondly, the
difldren of Ham, who founded in Iran itself the monarchy of the first
Chaldeans, invented letters, observed and named the luminaries of the
irmament, calculated the known Indian period of four hundred and
tfaiily^two thousand years, or an hundred and twenty repetitions of die
MTM, and contrived the old 83r8tem of mythology, partly allegorical,
ad pardy grounded on idolatrous venerations for their sages and
kwgivecs; that they were dispersed at various intervals, and in vari-
ous ooloniea over land and ocean ; that the tribes of Misbr, Cvsh
and Rama settled in Africa and India; while some of them, improving
^ art of sailing, passed from Egypt, Phenice and Phrygia, into Ita-
ly and Greece, which they found thinly peopled by former emigrants,
of whom th^y supplanted some tribes and united themselves with oth«
en; whilst a swarm from the same hive moved by a northerly course
into Scandinavia, and another by the head of the Oxus, and through
die passes of the Imaus, into Casbqhar and Eighuz, Rata and Kbo-
len, as far as the territories of Chin and Tahcut, where letters have
been used and arts immemorially cultivated ; nor is it unreasonable to
bdieve, that some of them found their way from the eastern isles into
Mexico and Peru, where trac-es were discovered of rude literature and
mythology analogous to those of Egypt and India; that, thirdly,
tl)e old Chaldean empire being overthrown by the Assyrians under
Catukess, other emigrations took place, especially into India;
while the rest of Shem's progeny, some of whom had before, on the
Red sea, peopled the whole of the Arabian peninsula, pressing close on
die nations of Syria and Phenice ; diat, lasdy, from all the three fam-
flies were detached many bold adventurers of an ardent spirit and a
roving disposition, who disdained subordination, and wandered in
separate clans, till they setded in distant isles, or tn deserts and
mountainous re^ons ; that, on the whole, nome colonies might have •
migrated before the death of dieir venerable progenitor; but that
states and empires could scarce have assumed a regular form, till fif-
teen or sixteen hundred years before the christian epoch, and that for
the first thousand years of diat period we have no history unmixed
m2 18 .
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188 CREDIBliJTY AM) ANTIQUITT OF
with fab)e, except that of the turbulent and yariiMe, but eminentljr
distinguished natfdn descended from Abraham/'
The first remaikable occurrenoe after the flood was the attempt to
build the tower of Babel, and fliis is not omitted in pagan records;
Berdsus the Ghaldee historian, mentions it with die additional drcum**
stances that it was built by giants, who waged war against the gods,
and were at length dispersed ; and that the edifice was beaten down
hy a great wind. According to Josephus the building of this tower
is al^o mentioned by Hesbceus and by one of the ancient sybils, and
also, as Eusebuis informs us, by Abydenus and Eupolmnus. The
tower of Belus, mentioned by Herodotus, is in all probability the tow^
er of Belus repaired by Belus 11. king of Babylon, who is finequently
.confounded with Belus the I. or Nimrod. That iVww construct^
with burnt bricks and bitumen, as asserted by Moses, is attested by
Justin, Quintus^ Curtius, Vetruvias and other heathen writers, and
also by the 'relation of modem travelers, who have described its ru-
ins.^ Su: Wil)iam Jones says, this event also seems to be record-
* The remains of the tower of Babel are stiU to be seen ahd are thus described
bjr captain "Kfegnan, in bis traFels in Chaldea. "At daylight I departed for the
rains with a mmd absorbed by the objects which I bad seen yestetday. An hour's
walk indtdged in intense reflection) brought me to the grandest and most gigan^
northern mass, on the oBwtern bank of the Euphrates, and distant about four miles
and a half from the eastern suburb of Hillah. It is called by the natiTes, Ei Mu-
jelHbahj <the overturned ;' also Haroot and Maroot, from the tradition handed down,
with little deriation, from time immemorial, that near the foot of the ruin there is a
Fell invMUe to mortals, in which those rebellious angels were condemned bj God
to be hung with their heels upward, until the day of judgment, as a punishment for
their wickedness. This solid mound, which I consider, m>m its situation and mag-
nitadev to be the remains of the tower of Babel (an opinion likewise adopted by that
▼enerable and highly distinguished geographer, major Rennell) is a vast oblong
square, tomposed of kilh-bumt and sun-dried bricks, rising irregularly to the height
of one hundred and thirty-nine feet, at the soutii-west; whence it slopes toward the
north-east to a depth of one hundred and ten feet Its rides lace the four cardinal
points. I measured them carefully, and the following is the full extent of each face ;
that to the north along tiie virible face, is two hundred and seventy-four yards ; to
the south two hundred and fifty-six yards; to the east two hundred and twenty-six
yards; and to the west, two hundred and forty yards.
The summit i^ an uneven flat, strsw^ with broken and unbroken bricks, the per-
fect ones measuring thirteen inches square by three ^ck. Many exhibited the ar-
row-headed character, which appearra remarkably fresh. Pottery, bitumen, vitrifi-
ed and petrified bricks, shells and glass are all equally abundant The principal
ingredients compcaing this ruin .are, doubtless, mud bricks baked in the sun. and
mixed up with straw. It is not difficult to trace Uie brick work along each front*
' particularly at the south-west angle, which is feced by a wall; compcMed partly of
kiln-bomt bnok,that in shape exactly resembles awatch tower, or sroall turret. On
its summit there are still considerable traces of erect building; at the western end
is a tarcular mass of solid brick work, sloping toward the top. and riring from a con-
fused heap of rabbish. The chief material forming this febric appeared similar to
that composing the ruin called aker eoreff, a mixture of chopped straw, with slime
used as cement, and regular layers of unbroken reeds. The base is greatly injured
by time ,and the elements, psjrticQlarly to the south-east, where it is doven into a
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THE OLD TESTABfSNT flOBXPTUBEB, 14|
ed by the ancient Hindoos in two of their puranai. T}ie Mexicans
have a tradition that a giant who was sared from the great innndatioBy
Xdhna* snmamed '* the Architect," went to Choliiia« where he bnilt
an artificial hill, in the form of a pyramid; the top of which* was to
have reached the heavens. It is also stated that the same person had
bricks made in the province of Hananalco, and that he had them ^oi^
' Teyed to Chohila by a file of men who handed them firom one to the
other; but that the gods, being incensed at the daring attempt, hud^
ed fire on the pyramid.
The history of the destmction of Sodom and Gomorrah, synchro-
mai with the call of. Abraham, is expressly attested by Diodonu
Sicnlas, Solinus,' Tacitus and Josephns ; and the Dead sea, a bitumin-
ous lake, unlike to any oth^r, is a striking corroboration of the record*
ed judgment on the cities pf the p^om, which its waters hare sinee
filled ; and the recent and remarkable discovery that the Jordan be-
ibre its course was stayed, passed'through the plain and flowed Into
die Red sea, is strikingly illustrative of the scriptural narrative, as
colonel Leake, the learned editor of Burchardt's work, has obserVedf
and that fact has since been elucidated by the scientific Leon Laborde^
ind the evidence is set before us by a chart of the channel, or of the
▼alley through which the Jordan flowed, and which stfll retains its
name El Gher, where the Jordan once flowed, as n^here it still flows on*
The scriptural account of that judgment is, that ** the Lord rained
upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fite from heaven ;" which
we may safely interpret as implying a shower of inflamed vulphur, or
nitre. At the same time it is evident, that th6 whole plain underwent
a simultaneous convldsion which seems referable to the consequence
of a bituminous explosion. In perfect accordance with this view of
flie catastrophe, we find the very materials as it were of this awful
visitation, still at hand in the neighboring hills ; from which they
might have been poured down by the agency of thunder storms di-
rected by the hand of offbnded heaven. Captains Irby and Mangles
coUeeted on the southern coast, lumps of nitre and fine sulphur from
the size of a nutmeg up to a small* hen*s egg^ which it was evident,
■from their situation, had been brought down by the rain , and they
say, ** their great deposit must be sought for in the clifis." These
clifis, then, were probably swept by the lightnings, and their flaming
masses poured in a deluge of ^e upon the plain.
tep furrow frtmi top to bot^nn. The lideB of the rahi exhibit hoUowe, worn partly
by the weather, but more generaUy by the Arabs, who are .incessantly digging for
bridu, and hunting for antiquities."
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14» CRBDIBILmr AND ANTIQUITY OF'
/lb already stated, the Mexicans have among them^a tradition which
QHist have had its origin in the destmction of ,the cities of the plain.
According to it,, at' the close of one of theur cybles the world was
destroyed by fire,- and as the birds alone were nble to escape, all men
were turned into birds, except one man and woman, who saved them-
selves in a cave. One of the hieroglyphic paintings of the Domini^
can monk Pedro de los Rios, already referred to, represents the god
of fire, Xiuhteuctli, descending on the earth, and also the man and
woman in the cave. ^ .
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were known to the ancient heathen
nations ;. for Origen informs us that the heathens used to perform their
conjurations and magical exploits in the names of theee patriarchSf
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob being
words usually pronounced in theur "channs.. By a recent discovery
in the land of Goshen we have a striking illustration of the truth of
the Mosaic history of the exaltation of Joseph in Egyptf and the
removal of Jacob and his family to that land ; for among certain ruins
there, an engraying has been found, representing the meeting of an
aged man spd his eleven sons, one of them a lad, With a personage of
high dignity, and accompanied by a number* of Egyptians. The
strangers have the habiliments of those who ttevdl thtf desert, and
each the indispensable leathern bottle to contain their necessary sup-
ply of water upon such a Journey. At the bottom of the engraving,
there were ori^nally written chkracters, which unfortunately, are all
obliterated with the exception of one word, and that is losef.
Mr. Oltnsted treats the history of the sojourn of the Israditea
iii Egypt, and their deliverance firom bondage there, as a silly fable
utteriy unworthy of credit. He says : ** Jacob, by his wives and mis-
tressed, had twelve eons, afler whom the twelve tribes of Israel are
named, he having been called Israel after he wrestled with God and
prevailed. One of his sons, Joseph, (and the affecting story of
Joseph is fiftmiliar with you all,) was sold as a slave, by one of his
brethren, to some merchants traveling to Egypt; they sold him to the
king of Egypt By means of bis skill in interpreting dreams, he
be<^me one of the king's ministers. Anticipating a famine, he pur-
chased and laid up in the king's store-houses large silpplies of grain.
The faoiine extending to the land of Canaan, where his father and
brethren dwelt, some of them went doWn to Egypt to purchase a sup-
ply of com. Joseph recognised them, and finally prevailed on the
whole family, the old gendeman and all the daughters-in-law, to set-
tle in Egyptr They went down, seventy-five souls in all, and settled
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 'SCRIPTURJSe. .. 143
Mi the coa9t of the Mediterranean, east of the Nile, in that part of
Egypt called Goshen. Here they increased in a wonderful manner;
for as some say^ in two hundred and thirty, and some in four hundred,
and others in four hundred and thirty years* they had become suffi-
ciently numerous to furnish six hundred thousand fighting men. I
allude to the time that Moses is said to hare led diem out of that .
country. It appears from Moses' account, that ihey had been for a
long time oppressed by the kings of |Igypt ; and what is very re-
markable, one of the decrees of the king was, that all ihe male ehil«
dren of the Hebrews or Israelites should be strangled at birth { but
the midwives, and it appears there were but two to all this people, (it
is imposf ibie to read the account with any thing like patience, a$ this
people are sometimes represented as amounting to at least two mil*
lions, and again, as livikig in a small village, and each knowing what
every other one did,) said Uiey could not kill them all, and thus it
#oold appear that if they escaped the midwives' hands, they were
suffered to livel Yet Uiis Moses was hid three months after his birth,
and theti, for fear he would be put to death if discovered, hid mother
contrived to place him in a situation where he would either be picked
np by the king's daughter or be drowned. He was taken up by the
king's daughter, and reared in the court of Pharaoh ; and was, as St.
Stephen tells us, << learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," which
consisted then, as now, in magic, or tricks of legerdemain. We are
at a loss, then, whether this decree was rigidly executed or not, for
we are told both ways. If it was, it is perfectly ridiculous to sup-
, pose there could have b^en six hundred thousand fighting men when
Moses appeared among them from the land of Midian ; for he waa
then ei^ty years old ; it is perfectly ridiculous, I say, to suppose that
a decree of this nature could have been in existence for eighty years,
. and enforced, as we are led to believe it was, from the case of Moses
himself, and there still have been six hundred thousand fighting. men.
Decree or no decree,^ it is incredible, that fi:oin seventy-five souls,
there could have.sprung as many as two millions, in' even four hun-
dred years, and especially in that region so subject to plagues."
In the above paragraph, Mr. O. makes several misstatements which
require correction. 1st It i^ not stated by Moses that when the
decree to destroy the male children of the Israelites was made, they
dwelt in a small viUage ; their home was not the village, but the land
of Goshen. At the period in question, however, they appear to
have been scattered over the land of Egypt, and to have beei^ inter-
mixed with the Egyptians, for it is said that «« the land was lull of
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144 CREDIBILITY AND APTnQUITy OP
them/'* 2iid, Moises does not represent them as " each knowing what
every otheif onle did ;*' so far from this, they are represented as being
ragaged in building.cities for Pharaoh throughout Egypt 8rd. There
is no contradiction in the narrative with regard to the rigid manner in
which the decree to kill the male children was enforced. But it is said
of the Hebrew mid wives, who at first were charged with the execution
Iff the decree, (the names of two of them only are mentioned, proba^
bly because they were the chief,) that they feared God, and ^ not
as the king commanded them*^ for this Pharaoh lebuked^ them^ and
he then charged the Egyptians to cast every male child into the river.
That for a time the decree was regularly enforced, is evident from the
&ct that the mother of Moses, after concealing hini' for three months^
If ar reduced to the painful necessity of exposing him upon the brink
of the river. Although the Egyptians continue greatly to oppress the
Israelites, we have no information concerning the length of time thin
particular decree was enforced; this much we know, that Moses no
where gives tl)e smallest hint that it was enforced for the space of eighty
years; but taking it for* granted' that Moses possessed as much aen-
men as this Infidel, the obvious inference to be drawn from the nam*
tive, ie that the decree was enforced only temporarily.
With regard to the rapid increase of the. Israelites, of which Mr. O.
says, '^decree or no decree, it is incredible,*' the example of oor,
own nation furnishes a very important experimental parallel. In 1790
iSbe wiioie population of the United States amounted to 8,200,000,
and as has been, ascertained by the different census which have
since been taken, it hps doubled itself in a less period than a quarter
of a century. Should this process continue unabated, for one hundred
and sixty years longer, the number would be 800,000,000, which is
nearly equal to -the estimated population of the world; while- revert*
ing to the main date of planting A. D. 1666, the same principle of
increase which Mathns concludes to have been in force for a century
and a half preceding the year 1800, would suppose a population of
100,000 only, at that period ; and ascending, for Uie sake of the paral*
lei, three hundred and twenty-five years higher, we should arrive at
the number twelve^ being that*of the sons of Noah with their wives,
supposing their numbers to have been doubled, in agreement with the
principle we are speaking of, within two years afler the flood, the
date of the birth of Arphaxad.
Thus it appears that, according to the progress of otir own popula-
' *Ezodas,i7.
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THE OLD TEETAMEUT SCRIPTURES. US
tioikf twelve males and females might increase to 100,000 in 325 yeara^
to 3,200,000 in 450 years, and to 820,000,000 in 650 years.* Bat
to Mr. Olmsted it is incredible that from seventy-five persons the
Israelites, in t^e space of four hundred years, should increase to
2,000,000. But he fortifies himself by asserting the prevalency of
the plague in that region. What evidence can he produce that the
{dague was known in Egypt at that period? And could it even be
•hown that it did then prevail there, as in modern times, yet this
could not invalidate the Mosaic narrative. If the above computation
be correct the Mosaic account of the numbers of the Israelites when
they led Egypt is worthy of all credit. And when we consider that
Egypt, at the period in question, was in a manner the garden of the
worid, it is highly probable that its pooulation was as numerous as
that of any region of the earth of the same extent ever has been, so
that it is evident Mr. O. makes a gratuitous assertion when in the fol*
lowing paragraph he says, " the king of Egypt probably never had
even three hundred thousand men at his command."
Mr. Olmsted proceeds : " When Moses was forty years old, he slew
an Egyptian that was mal-treating one of his brethren, for which he
fled his country, and went and dwelt in the neighboring country of
Midian, where, after forty years' residence, God (he says) appeared
to him, and told him he must go and lead his people out of Egypt
This is the first interview of which it is pretended we have any ao-
coont from the man himself whom God is alleged to have met Moses
obeys the orders of God. The plagues he is said to have brought
on the Egyptians, in order to induce the king of Egypt to let his
people leave that country for a few days* journey, in order to sacrifice,
you are all familiar with. It will be remarked that Moses never inti-
mates that his intention or wish was to take his final departure from
Egypt ; but on the contrary, expressly tells Pharaoh, that his only
object w^as to take his people out a few days' journey merely to sacri*
fice ; and this deception he practised at the express direction (he says)
of God. And aU this finesse was resorted to, and these miracles
wrought to induce the king of Egypt, who probably never had even
three hundred thousand men at his command, to grant a favor to this
Israelite who had six hundred thousand warriors at lus back. Moses
finally extorts permission from the king that he might go— -to sacri-
fice, mind you. Under the false pretence (that they were going a few
days' journey only,) the Israelitish women, at &e command of God,
* Bdliili Foroiga Quarterly Review, toL xiL pu 828.
N 19
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14t CREimiLITY AND AUtlQUITT OF ,
oommanioatdd to tfaem thnmgfa hid a^nt, Moses, borrowed the jew-
els of the Egyptian ladies, intendmg neTer to return them. (Just
think of this~*6od enjoining swindling !) But this is not all ; God is
determined that Moses shall glut his vengeance by murdering all the
first bom of the chOdren of Egypt on the night previous to the depar-
ture of the Helwews.' For this purpose God Almighty tells Moses*
Aat he (God Almighty) is to be the chief— in fact, the only actor in
. diis butchery; and that for fea^ he (God Almighty) will make some
mistake and murder some Hebrews in the bloody tragedy about to be
enacted, the children of the Israelites (afler having got their shoes and
hats on, and provisions in their packs, and them slung; in fine, after
being properly prepared and tucked^ up for a start,) must each kill a
goat and besmear his door-posts, as a sign to this God Almighty, that
in such house a Hebrew lives, and into which he is not to enter, but
t>ver or by which he is to pass. This is the passover; and to com-
memorate this wanton and foul murder— for Moses says all was done
as concerted— the feast of the passoyer was instituted by him» soon
afier he left Egypt Now if any body c^n believe that the finger of
God was in this thing, or that he was the actor in this bloody^ busi-
ness, or can think it probable, he has a mind differently constituted
fipom mine. . In the first place, that God Almighty would be the phys-
ical agent in a butchery of this extent, is past belief and degrading to
God. In the next place, to suppose that God Almighty would not
know what house to enter with his Bowie knife, unless directed by
the absence of this bloody token, is paying but a sorry compliment to
his discernment*'
Mr. Olmsted hdds. up as a subject of scorn, the narrative of the de«
parture of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, and treats with deri*
sion and contempt the miraculous events which Moses represents as
having then transpired. For the proper understanding of Uie subject,
it is important that the condition of mankind at that period should be
borne in mind. And, as has already been shown, the human family
had departed from the worship of God ; they had, in a great measure,
lost the knowledge of him, and were guilty of idolatry of the most
debasing character. The notion of tutelary gods at that period also
universally obtained. Nothing is more true than these two facts :
1st Man is a religious being. And 2d. Mai| is certain to become
assimilated to the moral character of the object worshiped by him.
These truths being admitted, it must be conceded, that the natural
and necessary tendencies of the idolatries, which at that period uni-
versally prevailed, were to becloud the intellects and corrapt the
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 147
Iiearts of mankind. Man, being once plunged into idolatry, coold not
extricate himself from itu corrupting influence ; this is evident from
his nature. Therefore none but God himself could deliver mankind
from idolatrous worship; and it must be acknowledged, that, if God
did redeem man from idolatry, he would use the means best adapted
lo his nature and lus circumstances.
In the Mos^c narrative, we have an account of just such an inter-
position. When God appeared to Moses at Horeb, he plainly inti>
mated his design to vindicate his right to the worship and obedience
of mankind, in oppositioi^ to the false deities whom they blindly
served, to rescue the Israelites from their cruel bondage, and through
Ifaem, to continue among mankind the knowledge and worship of their
Creator ; and to carry out his gracious designs of mercy to the human
race, agreeably to his promise to Abraham, the father of the faithful.
Fh>m what transpired on that momentous occasioi^, it is evident that
die Israelites themselves were contaminated with the idolatries of
^ir oppressors, and that, though they acknowledged the God of
Abraham as their God, yet they also believed that the idols of Ihe
Egyptians possessed the attributes of divinity, and had the power to
dispense good and evil to all the inhabitants of that land. This being
the case, they would also believe, in common with the Egyptians,
that the arts of jugglery, in which the magicians and priest? of Egypt
had made astonishing proficiency, were actual miracles, exhibiting
liie power of their idols, and the authority of the priests to act in
their names.
It appears that even Moses himself was tinctured with the prevail*
ing opinionji, hence his singular inquiry, '* When I come to the chil*
dren of Israel, and sh^ say unto them, the God of your fathers hath
tent me unto you, and they shall say to me, what is his name, what
shall I say unto them ?" In the answer given to Moses, " I am that
I AM,** we have a gracious display of the condescension of Almighty
God to the ^capabilities and the condition of his creatures, and in ac-
commodation to the weakness of his people, he assumes to himself a
name. But it is worthy of remark, that the name he adopted con-
veyed a correction of the superstitous weakness it seemed to humor.
**Baj unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you.*^
This title conveys no idea but that of personality and existence ; but
by this communication a first truth would be thrown into the minds
of the Israelites ; what \^e was besides would aflerwards be learned by
them.
Bat the question arises, .whence the necessity a[ the miracles ?
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148 OREDIBILTY AND ANTIQUnT OP
This is most satisfactorily answered hy the author of the Philosophy
of 4ie Plan of Salvation, who on this suhject says, <* Man cannot, in
the present constitution of his mind, believe that a religion has a di-
Tine origin, unless it be accompanied with miracles. The necessary
inference of the mind is, that, if an inGnite being acts, his acts will be
superhuman in their character; because the effect, reason dictates,
will be characterized by the nature of its cause. Man has the same
reason to expect that God will perform acts above human power and
knowledge, that he has to suppose the inferior orders of animals will,
in Uieir actions, sink below the power and wisdom which charac-
terizes human nature. For, as it is natural for man to perform acts
superior to the power and knowledge of the animals beneath him, so,
feason affirms, that it is natural for God to develop his power by
means, and in ways, above the skill and ability of mortals.
Hence, if God manifested himself at aU, unless, in accommodation
to the capacities of men, he should constrain his manifestations with-
in the compass of human ability, every act of God's power would,
lo human capacity, be a miracle. But if God were to constrain all
his acts within the limits of human means and agencies, it would be
impossible for man to discriminate between the acts of the God-
head and the acts of the manhood. And man, if he considered acts
of a divine origin which were within the compass of human ability,
would violate his own reason.
Suppose, for illustration, that God desired to reveal a religion to
men, and wished them to recognize his character and his benevolence
in giving that revelation. Suppose fur^er, that God should give such
a revelation, and that every appearance, and every act connected with
its introduction, was characterized by nothing superior to human
power. Could any rationd mind on earth believe that such a system
of religion came from God ? Impossible. A man could as easily be
made to believe that his own child, who possessed his own linea-
ments, and his own nature, belonged to sofme other world, and some
other order of the creation. It would not be possible for God to con-
vince men that a religion was from heaven, unless it was accompanied
with marks of divine power.
Suppose again, that some individual were to appear, either in the
heathen or Christian woiid — ^he claimed to be a teacher sent from
God, yet aspired to the performance of no miracles. He assumed to
do nothing superior to the wisdom and ability of other men. Such
an individual, although he might succeed in gaining proselytes to
some particular view of a religion already believed, yet he could never
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 149
■Bake Bien bdieve he had a special mission from God, to establish a
new leligioiiy for the simple reason that he had no grounds, more
than his fellows, to support his claims as an agent of the Almighty.
Bot if he conld convince a single individual that he had wrought a
miracle, or tiiat he had power to do so, that moment his 'claims would
be established in that mind, a3 a commissioned agent from heaven.
80 certainly and so intuitively do the minds of men revere and expect
miracles as Ihe credentials of the divine presence.
This demand of the mind for miracles, as testimony of the divme
presence and power is intuitive with all men t and those very indi-
viduals who have doubted the existence or necessity of miracles,
diQuld they examine their own convictions on this subject, would see
^t, by an absolute neoessity, if they desired to give the world a sys-
tem of religion, whether truth or imposture, in order to make them
receive it as of divine authority, they must work miracles to attest its
troth, or make men believe that they did so Men can produce
doobts of a revelation in no way, until they have destroyed the evi-
dence of its miracles ; nor can faith be produced in the divine origin
of a religion, until the evidence of miracles is supplied.
The conviction that miracles are the true attestations of immediate
divine agency, is so constitutional with the reason, that, so soon as
■len persuade themselves they are the special agents of God, in pro-
pagating some truth in the world, they adopt likewise the belief, Uiat
they have the ability to work mirades. There have been many sin-
cere enthusiasts, who believed that they were special agents of
heaven ; and, in such cases, the conviction of their own miraculous
powers arises as a necessary concomitant of the other opinion.
Among such, in modem times, may be instanced Immanuel Sweden-
bonrg, and Irvine, the Scotch preacher. • Impostors also, perceiving
that miracles were necessary, in order that the human mind should re-
ceive a religion as divine, have invariably claimed miraculous powers.
Such instances occur constantly, from the days of Elymas, down to
the Mormon Joe Smith.
AE the multitude of false religions that have been believed since
the woiid began, have been introduced by the power of this principle.
MnukCLSs BELIEVED lie at the foundation of all religions which men
have ever received as of divine origin. No matter how daring or re-
pulsive to reason in other respects, the fact of its establishment and
propagatimi grows out of the belief of men that miraculous agency
lies at the bottom. This belief will give currency to any system,
however absurd; and without it, no system can be established in
h2
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150 CRfiDIBILrrr and ANTIQtJITY OF
the mindB of men^ howeTer high and holy mty be its origin and d^
•ign.
Sacht then, is the constitution which the Maker has giten to the
mind. Whether the conviction be an intuition or an induction of rea-
son, God is (he primary cause of its existence ; and its existence puts
it out of the power of man to receiTc a revelation from GU>d himself,
unless, accompanied with miraculous manifestations. If, therefore*
God ever gave a revelation to man, it was necessarily accompanied
with miracles, and with miracles of such a nature as would clearly
distinguish the divine character, and the divine authority of the dis-
pensation.
The whole fuUness and force of these' deductions apply to the case
* of the Israelites. The laws of their minds not only demanded mirft-
des as the attestation of divine interposition, but at that time the
belief existed in their minds that miracles were constantly per-
formed."*
In view, therefore, of die existing circumstances, it was necessary
that Qod should manifest himsdf by miracles, and that these miracles
should be of such a character as evidently to distinguish them from
^c j^SS^^ ^^ ^^ Egyptian magicians, and to convince all observers
of the existence and omnipotence of the true God, in contradistinetion
from the objects of idolatrous worship. The question now arises,
were the miracles of such a character, and performed in such a man-
ner, as to remove false views from die minds of the Israelites, and in-
troduce right views concerning the true God, and the non*existence
of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians T
For the proper understanding of this subject, it must be borne in
mind, that when Moses appeared before Pharaoh as the messenger of
€k>d, and in his name demanded that Israel should be permitted to go
into the wilderness, to sacrifice to their God, the Egyptians and Pha-
raoh believed that the spells and incantations of their priests or magi-
cians, who were the representatives of their gods, would prove equal
or superior to the power to be exerted by Moses, the messenger of
Jehovah; and even the Iraelites themselves must have doubted
whether their God was a mateh for the gods of Egypt; this is evident
from the fact that it is stated, that '« they hearkened not unto Moses,
* Philosophy of the Plan of Sahration. A woik lately published by an anony-
■MWf atttbor, wbidi poaaeaaes rare merit, and ahould be in the handa of all who de-
aire to obtain correct viewa of the nature and deaign of the Levitical diapensation.
Iti circulation will be admirably calculated to curtail the influence of a certain hereay
wfaioh ia rapidly being difiuaed at the South.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CKIPTURE8. 151
for angniBh ct spirit, and cruel bondage;" they had, therefore, lost
aD hope of deliverance from their state of servitade.
It is worthy of special notice, that, daring the contest which en-
sued, the wlu^e strengA of the skill of the magicians was brought out
and exerted against the miraculous power exercised through Moses.
Had not this been done, the idea might have remained in the minds
of the people, that the miraculous power wielded by him was derived
from the gods of Elgypt Or they might have supposed that, if their
priests had been summoned, they could have contravened or arrested
the power vested in Moses by Jehovah.
The design of the miracles, and their adaptedness, not only to ex*
Mbit the power of the true God, but to destroy &e confidence placed
in the protection and power of the gods of Egypt, will clearly appear
when it is considered-*
I. That the Egyptians being worshipers of the Serpent, therefore the
first miracle performed was the conversion of Aaron's rod into a serpent^
and the destruction of the serpents of the magicians. Thereby it was
proved that this god could neither help the people, nor save himself.
n. The Nile was considered by the Egyptians one of their greatest
gods, and was an object of adoration to them, as the Ganges is to tho
modem Hindoos ; even its fish they revered. Therefore the second
nirade was the conversion of its waters into blood, and its finny
idds became masses of putridity. This miracle was calculated to
afibrd to any nation an evidence of divine agency, but especially to
carry conviction home to the minds of the superstitious Egyptians,
who now beheld one of their most revered gods, to whom they felt
themselves indebted for the fertility of their country, at the command
of the servant of Jehovah, converted into a substance which none
of their priests could touch or even approach without pollution ; add
to this, the third miracle was directed against the same god, and caus-
ed it to produce frogs, another source of pollution, which were sent
hrih from the Nile so abundantly that it was impossible to avoid be-
ing contaminated by them. This was calculated utterly to destroy
their &ith in the river, as an object of worship ; for by this miracle
die very god they worshiped was converted into a source of pollu-
tion to its worshipers.
m. No man could approach the altars of Eg3rpt upon whom har-
bored so impure an insect as a louse ; the priests, to guard against ihe
amaOest risk of contamination, wore only linen garments and shaved
tfieir heads and bodies every dsy. By the fourdi miracle, lice came
upon every man and beast throvghont the land of figjrpt; therefore
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162 CREDIBILITY AND ANnQUTTT OP
this pla^e was much worse even than any that preceded it, for while
it lasted no act of their idolatrous worship could be performed ; and
so keenly was this felt that the very magicians themselves ezdaimed
«• this is tl^e finger of God."
IV, The Fly-god or Beelzebub, was also worshiped by the Egypt-
ians as their protector from the visitations of swarms of flies which
infested the land, generally about the dog-days, and as they supposed,
could be removed only by this idol. By the fifth miracle, and during
the winter season, swarms of flies covered every spot and contamina-
ted the air ; by this the impotence of Beelzebub to relieve the people
was manifested, and the force of this miracle was keenly felt, for
Pharaoh, in a paroxysm of fear, consented that the people should go
and serve the Lord.
V. The Egyptians were also worshipers of brutes, and had their
sacred bull, and ram, and goat The sixth miracle, which produced
the murrain among the cattle, at once struck at the root of this entire
system, for neither Osiris, nor Isis, nor Ammon, nor Pan possessed
power to save his representative, but the sacred, as well as the other
animals, were swept away by the power of Jehovah ; and thus his
supremacy was manifested, and the very existence of their god de-
stroyed.
YI. Of the peculiar fitness of the sixth plague, (the seventh raira-
de,) says Mr. Glieg, "The reader will receive a better impression
when he is reminded that in Eg3rpt there were several altars on which
human sacrifices were occasionally ofiered, when it was desired to pro-
pitiate Typhon or the evil principle. From the description given of
the persons selected as proper victims, that they must be of a fair
complexion, with light hair, we have good ground for believing that
the Israelites were doomed, during their state of bondage, to supply
the demands of that horrid superstition ; for Uiough the Israelites
were not what we would term fair, their hair and complexion were
many shades lighter than those of the Egyptians. Their victims be-
ing burned alive, their ashes were gathered together by the officia-
ting priest, and thrown up iutq the air in order that a blessing might
be entailed upon every place to which an atom of the consecrated dust
might be wafted." By the direction of Jehovah Moses took a hand-
full of ashes from the furnace, that is, the sacred furnace, and which
at this time, in all probability, the Egyptians had frequently used in
attempting to turn aside the plagues with which they were smitten ;
the ashes he cast into the air, as they were accustomed to do : instead
of averting evil, there came upon all the people of the land boils and
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. iQi
lilains of a pecoliariy obnoxioiu description. Neither kin^, nor priest,
nor people escaped, and thus the inability of Typhon to protect his wor-
shipers was shown, his bloody rites became a curse to the idolaters ;
Ae supremacy of Jehovah was exhibited, and the deliverance of the
Israeiites demanded.
Yll. Among the Egyptians it was believed that their god Isis and
Serapis alone could preserve their country from the inroads of locusts.
By the ninth miracle, locusts filled the land, and afflicted the country
with a grievous evil, blighting the fruit of the field and the verdure of
the forest By this the impotence of their god Serapis was made
■lanifest, and the idolaters taught the folly of trusting in any other
protection, than that of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
YIU. The principal deities of the Egyptians were Isis, Osiris, and
lbs Nile. Originally Isis and Osiris were the representatives of the
son and the moon ; they were believed to control the light and the
cleaientB. Jlb there were two miracles directed against the Nile, so
ifaere were likewise two, the eighth and tenth directed against these
idols. By the firat of these, thunder, and hail, and fire spread devas^
tatioH and death throughout the land. By the second, both the sun and
nK>on were veiled *< and there was thick darkness in all the land of
Egypt three days.'' These miracles must have made a: deep impression
upon the minds of both the Egyptians and the Israelites. In that coun«
try the sky is uncommonly serene. In the greater part of it no rain
frUs firom one end of the year to the other ; ai^d even in such districts
as are watered from on high, a slight, transient shower is all that the
inhabitants ever witness. What horror then, must have pervaded all
minds during the elemental war described in the Mosaic record, du-
ring the long period of three da3rs and nights, while thick darkness
veiled both the sun and the moon from their afifrighted worshipers ?
Thus Jehovah summoned nature to proclaim him the true God ; thus
he asserted hu supremacy, and exerted his power to degrade idolatry,
and to deliver Israel from the land of bondage. Thus by miraculous
agency did Jehovah reveal himself as the true Qod ; and in the exer-
cise of his power he pursued those measures which were direcdy
adapted to destroy the various forms of idolatry which at that time
existed in Egypt
The last miracle, which Mr. Olmsted calls a wanton and foul mur-
der, was a just and a righteous retribution, and performed to manifest
to all minds that Jehovah was the God who executed judgment on
the earth. The Egyptians had for a long time cruelly oppressed the
Israelites. To put the finishing horror to their attrocities, they finally
20
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154 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OF
BldWf at their birth, the offspring of their victiiiifl ; hence die last and
most tremeodoos judgment of all was, as it is represented to be, a per-
fect application of the law of reprisals to the stubborn and rebdlious
Egyptians. Thus, saith the Lord, <^ Israel is my son, eren my first
bom. Let my son go that he may serve me, and if thon refuse to
let him go, I wiU slay thy son, even thy first bom.*' It is worthy
of particular remark that before this threatened judgment was carried
into execution, every effort had been used to subdue the obstinacy of
Pharaoh. Judgment after judgment had been sent upon him and
his subjects, by none of which were the children of Israel affected.
His gods were shown to be no gods ; his sacred river was made the
source of defilement to him. The sun refused him his light, the lo>
ousts devoured his crops ; 3ret none of these things succeeded in con-
▼incing Pharaoh that Jehovah was supreme throughout the universe,
and that it was his wisdom to obey.
Then, and not till then, did God raise his arm to strike; and in the
mid-watches of the night the << angel of the pestilence ** was sent to
the dwellings of Egypt ; and he breathed in the face ** of all the first
bom in the land, and the pride of Eg3rpt perished in one night.**
By this terrible dispensation the crael task-masters were taught, by
means the most convincing and heart-rending, that €k>d was a god
not only of power, but of judgment, and as such to be feared by evil
doers, and reverenced by them that do well.
When the idolatrous state of the world, and the character and cir-
cumstances of the Israelites, are taken into consideration, it must be
manifest that the miracles in Egypt demonstrate that their author was
the trae God; and it never could have entered into the heart of man
to adopt such a series of miradea, so well adapted to prove the uni-
ty of the Godhead, and the impious folly of idolatry. And the fact
that the Israelites, during their bondage in Eg3rpt, might have enter-
tained no higher views of Jehovah than they did of the imaginary
gods of the Egyptians, constitutes no argument against the troth of
the Mosaic narrative ; but it affords a melancholy proof of the men-
tal and moral degradation of mankind, under the debasing influence
of idolatry, and demonstrates the necessity of a revelation from God.
Mr. Olmsted also objects to the Mosaic narrative of the departure
of the Israelites from Egypt, because in it God is represented as com-
manding fraud ; he says, ** Just think of this, God's enjoining fraud !"
This difficulty will vanish when it is considered that it is well attest-
ed that the original Hebrew verb signifies to ask, or to demand^ and
the word is so rendered in all the ancient as well as in every modem
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCMPTURBa 155
mnsktioD, our awn excqded. Dr. Cltrk, in his Notes on Exodw
uL 22, the passage objected against by Mr. Olmsted, says, «< Our ex-
ceptionable translaHtm of the original has given some countenance to
the deiperate cause of infidelity ; its abettors have ezultingly said,
Moses represents the jiut God ordering the Israelites to borrow the
goods of the Egyptians under the pretence of returning them, where-
as he intended they should march ofF with the booty." Let those
men know that •there was no borrowing in the case ; and that if ac-
ooonts were fairly balanced Egypt would be found still in considera-
Ue arrears to Israel. Let it also be considered that the Egyptians
Berer had any right to the services of the Hebrews. Egypt owed
its policy, its opulence, and even its political existence to ihe Israel-
ites. What had Joseph for his important services ? Nothing ! He
had neither district, nor city, nor lordship in Egypt; nor did he re-
serve rniy to his children. All his services were gratuitous ; and be-
ing animated with a better hope than any earthly possession could in-
qitre, he desired that even his bones should be carried up out of
Egypt. Jacob and his funily, it is true, were permitted to sojourn in
Goshen, but they were not provided for in that place; for they brought
their cMie, their goods, and all they had m/o Egypt; bo they had
nothing but the bare land to feed on ; and had built treasure cities or
fortresses, we know not how many ; and for all these services they
had no compensation whatever, but were besides cruelly abused, and
oUiged to witness, as the sum of their calamities, the daily murder
<tf their male infants. These particulars considered, will infidelity
even dare to produce this case again in support of its wreckless pre-
tensions?
Mr. Olmsted represents Moses as exhorting permission for the Is-
raelites to leave Egypt under a fklse pretence. But he was guilty of
no such conduct He simply demanded, as a matter of right, that
^ Israelites should be allowed to leave Egypt to worship God, and
gives no intimation concerning the future. When the Infidel will
prove that the oppressed Israelites, of right belonged to Pharaoh king
of Egypt, and consequently, were accountable to him for their move-
ments, then a labored reply to Mr. Olmsted's statements may be
called for. But as the case stands, every candid mind must at once
perceive that the Israelites had the right at any moment to leave
Egypt, and every efibrt to prevent them was an act of injustice and
oppression.
The statements concerning the hardening of Pharaoh's heart have
been strenuously urged as an unanswerable argument against the cred-
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156 CRBDIBILITY AND AWnQUITY Of
ibili^ of the Mosaic narradve of the departure of the Israelites from
Egjrpt, which it may be well to notice in this place. Some affirm
that what is stated on that subject is sufficient to destroy the credibili-
ty of the entire Scriptures, while others more decently and specious*
ly assert that a just God could not punish the Egyptian monarch for
a hardness of heart, of which he himself was evidently the cause*
Here we have the objection in its fiill force. Let us now see what
truth there is in it. «<When we meet with an assertion apparently
contrary to all the truth and equity in the world,^* says Bishop
Home, ** it is but common justice to any writer, human or divine, to
suppose that we mistake his meaning, and that the expression employ-
ed to convey it, is capable of an interpretation diffierent from that
which may at first present itself. We cannot for a moment imagine,
that God secretly influences a man's will, or suggests any wicked,
Btnbbom resolution to his mind, and then punishes him for it. We
should, therefore, consider by what other means, not incompatible
with his nature and attributes, he may be said, in a certain sense and
without impropriety, to harden a man's heart.
There are many ways by which we may conceive the effect to be
wrought, without running into the absurdity and impiety above men-
tioned. The heart may be hardened by those very respites, mirades,
and mercies intended to soflen it ; for if they do not soflen it, they
•will harden it. God is sometimes said to do that which he permits to
be done by others, in the way of judgment and punishment ; as
when his people rejected his own righteous laws, he is said to have
given them the idolatrous ones of their heathen neighbors, — ** stat-
utes that were not good ! " The heart may be hardened by withdraw-
ing that grace it has long resisted ; men may be given up to a repro-
bate mind ; as they would not see when they possessed the faculty
of sight, the use of that faculty may be taken from them, and they
may be abandoned to blindness. But all this is judicial, and supposes
previous voluntary wickedness, which it is designed to punish."
Every one who candidly peruses the history of the transaction with
Pharaoh, must acknowledge that what the Almighty did to him and
the Egyptians had a tendency to soAen rather than harden his heart ;
the threatened plagues were suspended on a condition with which he
refused to comply, and then only were they inflicted, and the difficul-
ties urged by the Infldel are to be traced entirely to errors committed
by our translators. Dr. Glieg says, ** In the original, and in all the
ancient versions, without a single exception, as well as in the most
judicious modem translations, such as those of Goverdale, Le Clerct
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCKIPTUBES. m
Ae Oeaefa Bible, &c., Pharaoh is expressly said to have hardened
his own heart at different times." Mr. Home says, << It is well known
Ihat the Hebrew yerfos in the Hiphil conjunction, signify to permitf
m to snfier to be done, as well as to cause to be done ; hence nothing
more is meant than to leave a man to the bent or tendency of his
own disposition.'* And it is not nntil after the sixth plague that God
is for the first time represented as in this sense hardening Pharaoh's
beait. He hardened his own heart after the miracles which Moses
wrought before him at the second interview, as well as aAer the release
of ihe first five plagues. According to Mr. Home, the proper render-
ing of Exod. iv. 21, is : I will permit kU heart to be so hardened that
he will not let the people go. And Exod. ix. 12, ought to be tranda-
led, *« Yet die Lord suffered the heart of Pharaoh to be so hardened
that ha hearkened not to them." The same author says, << A more
literal rendering of Exod. ix. 15, 16, would remove the discrepancy
whidi seems at present to exist in our common version, which mns
thus : For if now I had strxtchxd out my hand^ and smitten thee
and thy people with the pestilence, thou shouldst havb been cut off
from theearth; but truly on this very account have I caused thu to
subsist, ^uxt I might cause thee to see my power^ and that my namb
might be decUared throughout all the earthy or, in all this land."
Theiefore the trae meaning of the passage is, For this cause have I
kept thee alive^ when the pestilence might have cut thee off, as the
Brarrain did thy cattle,/or to show theemypowert and that my name
might be declared in all the earth. So that the objections which
have been raised against the Btt>le on account of the passages which
have been under eonsideration, are proved to be destitute of foundation*
Mr. Olmsted continues his misrepresentations of the Mosaic ham*
tire of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt by 8a3ring, ** That
a horde of Arabs might have dwelt on the confines of Egypt, and that
Bome few choice spirits among them, imagining themselves aggrieved,
or from mere love of destraction, might have murdered helpless child*
ren to some extent, on their departure, may, or may not be trae."
** From die very circumstances of the case, the great body of diem
were neither to see nor do any of it They were to besmear their
door-posts only, and God Almighty was to do the work, and immedi-
attety when told it was done diey were to scamper. From Moses'
own aeeomit, his people were only told that the tragedy was played."^
Fkom what Is here stated Mr. Ohnsted infers that the Israelites had no
this portioa of Mr. 0.*s argument is given he^ : the whole connectum
■eoMBd hflVMfter, mad in ite prepcr pbee.
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158 CRBDIBILITY AND ANTIQUrrY OP
asiurance that the first bom of the Egyptians had faflen yictima to the
plague. That is a strange reason assigned by him as tiie ground of
his inference, Tiz. because the great body of the Israelites were << nei-
iter to see nor do any of it" The angel cf the pestUmcet a few years
ago, passed over this land, spreading consternation and death through^
out the nation. According to Mr. Olmsted's principle, we cannot
believe that any of our fellow-citizens, during that season of distress,
fell victims to the cholera, unless with our own eyes we beheld some of
them in the agonies of death, or aided the angel of the pestilence in his
work of destruction. Is it replied. But we heard the lamentations of
the bereaved Natives, and beheld their habiliments of mourning T
Did not the Israelites have testimony fully as conclusive, when in the
morning they heard the wailings of Egypt, and the Egyptians thrust
them out, being urgent for them to be gone lest a still move terrible
calamity should befidl the nation ?
If the Israelites were originally a horde of Arabs dwelling on the
confines of Egypt who, upon leaving that country, had committed un«
provoked murders upon die persons of the Eg3rptians, as Mr. Olmsted
seems to suppose is probable, and in behalf of whom, as he maintains,
there never was a divine interposition, and who nevw were the subjects
of divine illumination, whence came the only theocracy, the only
unmixed theism, the only religion on earth during many ages, in
which the only true and living God was worshiped, and human sacri-
fices never burned nor bled ? Can an instance be produced from the
history of the nations of the earth of a horde of such baibarians pos-
sessing and being governed by such a pure, enlightened, and compre-
hensive moral code as that of the twelve tables of stone which Moses
cast down and broke at the sight of an act of idolatry in Israel ? Is
it not very remarkable that a horde of rude barbarians, possessing no
advantages of instruction over their neighbors, should, in the days of
Joshua, teach their children the precepts of a perfect law ? Is it not
surprising that throughout the whole world, for many ages, none can
be found who stood erect before an idol except this << horde of rude
Arabs ?" Is it not astonishing that such a horde of barbarians, as Mr.
O. would have us to believe the Israelites were, should for many
centuries be stigmatized by all the other nations of the earth as impi-
ous on account of theur hatred of idolatry ? Finally, is it not pass-
ing strange that they alone among all mankind should bdieve diat
ereed which all science confirms, and all nature ratifies, the Lord our
Ood is one Lord^ beside whom there is no Gk>d ?
As every efiect must proceed firom an adequate oaose, upon Ae sop-
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 150
position tfiat the Israelites were just sach a people as Mr. O. supposes
they possibly were, upon what principle are we to account for the
parity of their worship, and the excellency of their moral code ? If
the Infidel will attempt the solution of the difficulty here presented, in
cntler to his success he must hare recourse to a miracle more stupend-
ous than any of those recorded by Moses, the servant of the Most
High.
SECTION in.
Let us now enquire what collateral testimony can be adduced,
showing that the leading facts detailed by Moses concerning the bond-
age of the Israelites in the land of Egypt, their sojourn in the wil-
derness, and their settlement in the land of Canaan, did transpire.
In E^pt vast chambers have been discovered cut in the rock, be*
Death the ground, where, it seems, the ancient Egyptians resided. On
the walls of these chambers are many paintings, which still preserve
their colors and outlines so perfectly as to be easily understood. Here
the manners, customs and history of the ancient Egyptians can be stu-
died, and many of these mute monuments, after slumbermg for long
ages, add their indubitable testimony to the truth of the Scriptures.
*'A recent discovery presents a contemporary picture coeval with the
birth of Moses, and copied by Rosselini and Wilkinson, which may
be said to be a commentary on the first chapter of Exodus, and to set
the Israelites before our eyes actually engaged in the hard bondage in
mortar and brick as Moses described them. The Egyptian task-mas-
ter is set over them with a rod in his hand ; the diversity of color as
well as of their countenances distinguishes the oppressed Hebrew
slaves, and the whole process of their labor is seen till the tale of
bricks may be counted. «' Their countenances are as perfecdy Jew-
ish,'* according to the London Literary Qazette, << as those of any old
clothes-man firom St. Mary Ax who now perambulates the streets of
London. Neither Lawrence nor Jackson could have painted more
perfect Jews ; the features so changeless and peculiar to that people !
And then their occupation; the several portions of the process of
brick making, their limbs bespattered with the mud, and their Egypt-
ian taskmasters with the scourge superintending their labor. The
whole seems to us to be a clear and decisive evidence, not only of the
captivity, but of the actual circumstances related in the history of
Moses. The Egyptians, in the original, are painted in the usual red;
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160 CREDIBILITT AND ANnQUITY OF
tite Israelites of the biUow color ; and when we reflect that throughout
all the other subjects figured ia these sepulchers of Beni Hassan, the
ntmost regard is paid to individuality, and even to minute accessories,
we cannot imagine a reason to induce us to question ihe truth and ap-
jrfieation of this remarkable discovery. Rosselini's last ievraison of
illustrations brii^ these Jews before our eyes, who were captives in
Egypt under the eighteenth dynasty and previous to the Exodus. In-
dependently of other evidence drawn from the Phonetic language to
prove that they are Jews, no cursory reader who glances at their linea-
ments or persons, will for a moment doubt their identity. These Jews
are employed under the dynasty of the very kings contemporary with
M«ses, in the speeifio act of slavery which he and Manetho both
describe, viz. making brick and working in the quarries. An Egypt-
ian taskmaster superintends the work ; and the bricks, according to
their delineations, are precisely those which are found in the walk
constructed of bricks, tlie date of which is assignable to the era in
question.'' 7%e Egypiiam net over them tatkmaaters to qffHct them
urith their burdens^ and made their lives bitter with hard bondage^
in mortar and in bricks^ and in all manner of service in the JieUL
Exclusive of the brick makers set beCbre our eyes by Rosselini, a
small picture is also introduced in the annexed plate. The outlines
of some of the heads and features are exactly engraved of the full size
of the original drawings."*
Justin, the historian who wrote in the second century, abridged the
work of Trogus Pompeius, a Greek writer, which is now lost. " The
Jews," says this writer, <' hail their origin from Damascus, a most
notable city of Syria, whence also proceeded the Assyrian kings, the
descendants of Queen Semiramis. The city received its name from
king Damascus, in honor of whom the Syrians worshiped at the sep-
ulcher of his wife, Arath, and thence received her as one of their dei-
ties. After Damascus, reigned Azelus, then Adores, and Abraham
and Israel. But a happy progeny of ten sons rendered Israel more
ilhistrious than any of his ancestors. Therefore he delivered to his
sons a people divided into ten kingdoms, calling them all Jews, from
the namp of Judah, who died after the division : and he commanded
that all the survivors should revere the memory of him whose portioa
fell to all. The youngest of these brethren was Joseph. His breth-
ren fearing his superior genius, having secretly surprised him, sold
him to foreign merchants. By them he was carried into Egypt.
*Kflilh't Doiioiwtntion of the Truth of the Christian Religion.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURB8. 151
Thne, whea from the acuteness of his eapacity he acquired a know-
ledge of magical arts, he soon became a great favorite with the king.
For he was not only most skillful in prodigies, but acquired a perfect
understanding of dreams. Nothing, indeed, either human or divine,
seemed hid from him ; so that he even foresaw a sterility of tlie lands
many years before it took place : and all Bgypt would have perished
by famine, had not the king at his instigation published an edict, re-
quiring that grain should be preserved for many years : and such were
the proofs of his wisdom; that they did not seem to be answers given
from man, bnt God. His son was Moses, who, besides inheriting
his father's wisdom, was distinguished by his beautiful form. Bnt»
as they labored under a leprous scall, the Egyptians being warned by
an ora^, expelled him, together with those who were infected, from
the confines of Eg3rpt, lest the plague should extend further. He
therefore being made the leader of the exiles, clandestinely carried off
the sacred things of the Egyptians ; which the Egyptians seeking to
recover by arms, they were forced by tempests to return home. Mo-
ses, therefore, wishing to regain his native country of Damascus, took
possession of Mount Sinai, where, when he had at length arrived,
after he and the people with him were worn out with fasting for seven
days in the desert of Arabia, he set apart the seventh day to be ob-
served as a fast in all succeeding ages, because that day had terminated
their famine, and their wanderings. As they recollected that they had
been banished from Egypt, from the fear of their infection spreading
to others, that they might not be objects of horror to the people among
whom they now setded, they made a law, that they should have no
communication with strangers. This, at first adopted from policy,
became afterwards an article of their religion. After the death of
Moses his son Aruas was first made priest of the Egyptian rites, and
immediately af\er king. Hence it became an invariable custom among
the Jews, that the royalty and the priesthood should be united in one
person. This conjunction of civil justice with religion has given an
incredible stability to their government.*'
Azelus and Adores here mendoned seem to be the same persons
with Hazael and Ben-hadad of Scripture, the latter being called Adad
and Adar by Jos^phus. If this be the case, it is a remarkable ana-
chronism to place them before Abraham. Trogus Pompeius is not the
only historian who asserts that this patriarch reigned at Damascus*
Nicolaus of Damascus, a Peripatetic philosopher and celebrated wri*
ter of the Augustan age, relates that Abraham, " afler leaving Ghaldea
with an army, resided sometime at Damascus, and reigned there: but
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16t CREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUTIT OF
dmt he afterwards removed to Canaan, now called Jndea, where he
dwelt with hia people and where hU posterity have greatly increased/*
This story, if it proves nothing else, prores the celebrity of Abraham
in the east; and it is not unlikely that it had its origin from his victoij
over the five kings. At this time he resided at no great distance horn
Damascus; he pursued them to Hobah in the neighborhood of thai
city.
In the account given from Trogns, &ere is a strange mixture of
truth and falsehood ; but (he very errors in the narrative render it the
more unexceptionable as a collateral confirmation of the sacred histo-
ly. For thus it is evident that the author did not borrow from the
Jews, but from heathens. In a certain sense the Jews might be call-
ed 83rrians ; for Jacob was the son of a Syrian woman ; he sojourned
twenty years in the country of Syria; and his posterity were instruct-
ed to say, when ofiering their fiist fruits, «• A Syrian ready to perish
was my father.'*
That pscrt of the history which exhibits Israel as dividing his king-
dom among his sons, bears strong marks of a traditionary allusion to
his prophetical division of the land of Canaan on his death-bed, espe-
cially as what is related concerning the patriarch's requiring the rest
of his sons to «' revere the memory of Judah," is almost a commen-
tary on that striking part of his prophecy, ** Judah, ikon art he whom
Ay brethren shall praise ; thy father's children shall bow down before
thee.*' As the heathen historian relates that Israel called all his sons
Jews from the name of Judah, the version of the passage referred to
in the Targum of Jerusalem is very similar; «< Jadah, to thee shall
all thy children confess, and by thy name shall all the Jews be called."
The account here given of Joseph, although through mistake he is
called the youngest son of Israel, is just such as a heathen would give,
if he related the facts recorded in Scripture in his own way; and it
cleariy shows that the history of Joseph was well known to the neigh-
boring nations. The mention made by Trogus of the beauty of
Moses, illustrates the accuracy of the Scripture history, even in mi-
nute circumstances; there it is said of him, when in infancy, that <<he
was a goodly child.** From this account it also appears that his wis-
dom was greatly celebrated. Although a false reason is here assigned
for the departure of the Israelites from Egypt; yet no one who reads
this history can doubt that they did depart from it. The falsehood
of tiie reasons assigned for remote events, forms no reasonable objec-
tion against the truth of the evento ^mselves ; for it is evident that
it is much more easy for tradition to preserve the memory of a re-
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THB OLD TBSTABfENT SCRIPTURES. Id
maskable facti than for it to preaenre ^ cause of that faet. Even in
modem timea, different historians who relate &e same transactions,
while tfiey agree as to the leading facts, often widely differ with re-
spect to the causes. The assertion that the braelites were expelled
becaose they were infected with leproey, is contradicted by unques-
tionaUe facta. One of their laws excluded every leprous person from
tiu camp. It therefore must have been made when they weie in the
wilderness, residing in tentSt having no fixed habitation, and when
they were on their way from Egypt to the land of Oansan. Had
they been all leprous, or had this disease prevailed among them to
soeh a ^degree as to form a reason for their expulsion from Egypt,
the framing oi such a law would have been most absufd ; for thereby
if not all, at least the majority of them, would have been excluded,
and it cannot be supposed, that a majority would consent to a law ex-
eluding themselves. The fact seems to be this ; One of the plagues
inflicted on the Egyptians was that of '* a boil breaking forth with
scalding blains ;'* the description of which corresponds greatly with
that given of the leprosy. It is elsewhere called <^the boil of
Egypt,** and represented as incurable. It is said of the magicians
that *' they could not stand before Moses because of the boil ; for the
boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians." Now it
is most probable that those here called the magicians, and elsewhere,
trin menf were the priests of Egypt, and aiso her historians. As
they could not conceal a fact so well known as that of the departure
of the Israelites, they might ttom shame or from revenge, endeavor
to throw the odium of this plague, by which they had suffered so
severely, upon the Israelites themselves. What confirms this hy-
pothesis is, that Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who lived three hun-
dred years before Christ, and who is quoted by Josephus, represents
the Jews as banished from Egypt, because they were infected with
leprosy. Chceremen, anoAer historian of that nation, refers to the
same eircumstaace ; and this story, in succeeding ages would be prop-
agated by the Egyptians among the neighboring nations. But al-
thouf^ the reason assigned was false, yet the Israelites were expell-
ed; for in the Scripture it is said *<the Egyptians were urgent upon
the people, diat they might send them out of the land in haste ; for
Ibey iaid, we be all dead men." And it is further added &at the Is-
raelites <« were thrust out of Egypt" So that in the statement of the
expulsion of the Israelites out of Egypt, «« lest the plague should ex*
tend further;" the facts recorded in Scripture concerning the plague
«f the boils, the terror of the Egyptians lest ^y should nD perish.
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164 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
aad their urgency with the Israelites for their departure, may all be
plainly traced. The account given by Trogus agrees with that of
the Scriptures in two circumstances, apparently so opposite, that they
could scarcely have been invented by any historian. 1st The Egypt-
ians are represented as pursuing the Israelites, after having expelled
&em. 2d. The reason for this pursuit, the Israelites had ** carried
off the sacred things of the Egyptians/' The account of Trogus^
implying that a number of Egyptians were expelled with the Israelites,
might have originated in the traditions preserved concerning the
** mixed multitude " which accompanied the Israelites out of Eg3rpt
The statement that the Egyptians were forced by tempests to reUum
from the pursuit, is evidently a distorted account of the fate of Pha-
raoh and his host ; and it carries upon it the evidence of its falsehood ;
for how could a leprous multitude brave those <* tempests " which de-
feated the Egyptian army ! Did their boils better qualify them for
flight, than the health of the Eg3rptians to pursue?
The absurd statement, that the Israelites traveled seven days with-
out food, seems to convey the idea that the authors possessed a con-
viction that this people, when in the wilderness, had no ordinary
means of support It may be that in this account cUn/s are substituted
for weeks; for the law was given from Mount Sinai seven weeks
after the Israelites left Egypt The narrative, however, plainly
shows that the neighboring nations had a knowledge that the Israel-
ites received their law at Mount Sinai ; and, although a false reason
is here given for the institution of the sabbath, and the era is too late,
yet the institution is ascribed to a very early period of the Israelitish
history. When the remote airtiquity of the events here narrated is
considered, and also the confusion and frequent absurdity of the
accounts given by the most celebrated heathen writers, concerning the
more early periods of their own history ; the little intercourse they had
with the Jews, and their great prejudices against them; so far from
the fact, that this account in a number of circumstances varies from
that given in the Jewish records, militating against the authenticity
of the sacred writings, every candid reader must be surprised that
there should be so remarkable a coincidence.
Apion, an Egyptian writer, although a bitter enemy of the Jews,
ascribes great antiquity to their nation. He says, that ** in the reign
of Amosis, king of Egypt, they departed from that country, under
Moses as their leader.'* This Amosis he makes contemporary with
Inachus, the founder of the Argive kingdom in Greece.
According to Clemens Alexandrinus, Inachus lived five hundred
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THE OLD TESTAMENT BCBIPTUBea Idi
yean befinre the Trojan war. Later chronologers make his reiga
much earlier. It is eyident from this, however, that ike Egyptiaa
wiiten admit that the Israelites left Egypt at a very early period*
Many learned writers have supposed, that the Israelites were the
Hycsos, or shepherd kings, who, accordmg to Manetho, hdd aU
Egypt in subf ugation for two hundred and fifty-nine yenrs. Others,
because thero is so Mtde agreement between tlw scriptar^history and
the cireumstances mentioned by Manetho, suppose that these shep*
herds were some other people. But, not to dwell on the number of
years assigned to their usurpations, Manetho himself settles the dis-
pttte, when he asserts that a great body of these shepherds, during
the reign of Themoeis, ^ retreated to a country now known by the
name of Jndea, where ibey built the city of Jerusalem.*' He also
says, that, during the reign of Amenophis, whom he places long after
Themosis, the remnant of these shepherds <* united under Osarsiph, a
priest of Hdiopolis, whose commands they were to obey, <m condi-
tion of not being obliged to worship the Egyptian gods ; that they
riwuld marry with iheix own people, and eat such meats as they
deemed holy. Osarsiph," he adds, *' was the founder of that pdli-
ty : he was so named from Osins, a god wor^iped at Heliopolis*
However the truth may be disguised in this statement, it seems unna-
tural to understand it as having a reference to any other nation but
the Isra^tes. Joseph, who was next in dignity to the king, << bought
all the land for Pharaoh," and removed the peoj^e ** to cities, from
one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof;" and
it is not surprising that succeeding ages should ascribe such a change
to a conquest made by a strange people, who led the life of shepherds,
as did the IsraeUtes, a life extremely odious to the Egyptians. Mane-
tho here evidently refers to the character of Moses as a legislator, and
it is difficult to conceive how he could have connected him with these
shepherds, had he not found such a connection already established in
the ancient annals, or at least in the ancient traditions of Egypt
Besides, Themosis is generally viewed as the same with Amoeis, in
whose reign^ according to Apion, the Israelites left Egypt As Moses
** was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," there is every
reason to suppose that he had been educated by their priests ; and, as
he did not visit his brethren until he was *< full forty years old," we
need not wonder that in succeeding times he was not only considered
as a priest, but called an apostate, in consequence of his joining him-
self to the Israelites.
We learn from Tatian, the Assjnrian, that in his time the annals of
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IM ORBDraiLTY AND ANTIQUITY OP
the Egyptians were extant, moat diligently compiled by Ptolemy^ a
priest of Mendes, in Egypt. According to Ptolemy, *' in the reign
of Amoaii, the Jews departed from Egypt into their own country,
under Moaea, their leader." He also repreaenta Amoaia aa contem-
porary with Inachua.
Tacitus, the Roman historian, gives a very particular account of
the Jewa. «« It ia related," he aaya, ** that the Jewa, being exiles
from the ialand of Crete, took possession of the most remote parta of
Syria, at the time that Saturn waa violently expelled by Jupiter from
hia kingdom. An argument ia boROwed from their name. It ia
aaid that Ida, being a famoua mountain in Crete, the inhabitanta, then
called Idtti, were, by a barbaric change of the name, denominated
Judaei. According to aome, during the reign of lais, a great multi-
tude inundating Egypt, under Hieroaolymua and Juduces, their
leaders, settled on the nearest landa.*' Having mentioned other
accounta he adds, ** the most of authora agree that a bodily contagion
made ita appearance in Egypt: when king Oichoaia inquired con-
cerning the meana of cure, he waa commanded by the oracle of Ham-
mon to purge the kingdom, by expelling auch men aa were detestable
to the gods. A great rabble being collected, they were warned by
Moses, one of the exiles, that they could expect no help from either
gods or men, aa they were deaerted by both, but that they might be
delivered from their present miseries by implicitly confiding in him
aa a heavenly leader. To this they aaaented, and blindly aet out on a
journey by chance. Nothing diatreaaed them ao much aa the want
of water. And now, not far from deatruction, they all lay flat on the
ground, when a flock of wild aaaea, leaving their paature, climbed a
rock ahaded with wood. Moses, forming a conjecture from the ver-
dure of the soil, followed them, and discovered abundant aprings of
water. Having obtained this refreshment, and continued their jour-
ney for six days, on the seventh day they took possession of lands«
in which they built a city and temple, having expelled the former
inhabitants. Moses, in order to secure the nation to himself in suc-
ceeding times, instituted new rites, which were contrary to other
nations." He aflerwarda assigns the same reasons with Trogus, for
the consecration of the seventh day of the week, observing that
'« they devoted the aeventh year also to idleness." He saya, " othera
apprehend that this honor belongs to Saturn, and that we have either
received the first principles of religion as handed down by the Idsiana
(or Jews,) who were expelled with Saturn, and were the founders of
the nation: or, because the star of Saturn possesses the highest orb
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 167
and the greatest power among the seven planets, hy which men are
governed, and the most of the heavenly bodies exert their power and
finish their courses by the number seven. Bat in what manner soever
these rites were introduced, they have the sanction of antiquity.*'
From what Tacitus here says, it appears that certain more early
writers attributed to the Jews, as a nation, an antiquity neariy coeval
with the very commencement of the fabulous history of the Greeks.
It is also evident that there was a general belief that the Jews re-
eeived their law fiom Moses very soon after they left Egypt, and that
it had the highest antiquity. In what Tacitus says concerning the
Israelites being in danger of perishing from thirst, and the means by
which they obtained relief, we have several of the facts recorded
in Scriptore, but blended together and mingled with fiction. Then
there is an obvious allusion to what we are told concerning the Israel*
ites traveling three days before they found water, as well as to their
murmuring and objections on that account. In the story concerning
the rock shaded with wood, we have evidently a mixture of the cir-
eomstances related in Scripture concerning the rock which was smitten
by Moses, and the twelve fountains of Elim, where there were three
seore and ten palm trees.^
Artapanus, in his work concerning the JewSy gives the following
idation : Moses was shut up in prison by Nechephres, the king of
the Egyptians, because he demanded the liberation of the Israelites.
By night, the prison being opened by the will of God, he went forth,
entered into the royal palaee, stood before the sleeping monarch,
and awaked him. The king, astonished at what had taken place,
commanded Moses to tell the name of that God who had sent him.
Moses approaching the ear of the king told him his name. Upon
hearing it the king was struck dumb ; but when Moses laid hold of
him he revived. The leading circumstances here mentioned are en-
tirely diiferent from those recorded in the sacred history. There
seems indeed to be an allusion to what was done by Moses in declar-
ing to Pharaoh die name of Jbhovah as the God of the Hebrews :
and to Pharaoh's calling for Moses and Aaron hy night. But what
deserves special notice is that the passage affords a satisfactory proof
of a general tradition among the heathen that Moses had wrought
miracles in the presence of the king of Egypt, and even such as par-
ticulariy affected himself.
Although aone of the names of the Egyptian magieians are men-
*EzodoizT.S7.
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X66 OREBIBILITY AND ANnQTTITY OF
tioned in the Pentateuch ; yet, from what the apostle Pud says con-
oemmg ** Jannes and Jambres withstanding Mosee/' there is no reason
to doubt that the names of these persons, as being the chief of the
magicianSy and some other particulars concerning them not recorded
in Scripture, had been pieserved among the Jews by tradition. Their
names are found in the Chaldee paraphrase of the Pentateuch. Jona-
than thus renders Exod. vii. 11, ** Jannes and Jambres, Egyptian ma*
gicians, also did in like manner by the muttering of their enchant-
ments." The names of these magicians are also mentioned in the
Talmud in the book of Zohar, in Schalscheleth and in Tanchuma*
These magicians seem to hare been well known to heathen writers
Eusebius quotes a passage from Numenius, an anc^t Pythagorean
philosopher, which not only attests the scriptural aecount concerning
Aese magicians, but plainly shows a general belief that Egypt, by the
instrumentality of Moses, had been visited by some plagoes. He sajTS*
«« Jannes and Jambres, scrH>e8 of the religion of Egypt, at the time
diat the Jews were expelled horn that country, were universally
deemed inferior to none in aequaintance with megioal arts. They
were therefbre both chosen by the common consent of the Egyptians
to oppose themselves to Mussus, the leader of the Jews, a mai whose
prayers were remarkably prevalent with God. These persons were
reckoned able to remove the calamities which Mussus had brought
upon Egypt." Eusebius gives a similar testimony from Artapanns,
nHto calls them "priests above Memphis," relating that the king
«* threatened tbem with death if they did not perftrm things equal to
those done by Moses."*
Strabo, in his sixteenth book, speaking of Moses as an Egyptian
priest (which Josephus says he had from the Egyptian writers) says,
«* Many who worship the Deity agreed with him, (Moses) for he htfdi
9aid that the Egyptians did net rigktly conceive of God, when they
likened him to wild beasts and catde ; nor the Syrians, nor the Greeks,
in resembling him to a human shape." According to Artapuius, tfie
Heliopolitans gave the follewing account of the passage of the Red
sea: " The king of Egypt, as soon as the Jews had departed from
his coimtry, pursved them with an immense army, bearing along with
him the consecrated animals. But Moees having by the divine com*
raand struck the waters with his rod, they parted asunder, and af-
forded a fese passage to the Israelites. The Egyptians attempted to
follow them, when fire suddenly flashed in &eir laces, and the aea
• JameisQii's Sacred Histoiy.
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THE OLD TE8TAME1IT edaPTURES. Ut
retanting to ifii nsual channel, brought a uniyersal destruction upon-
their army*'* This circumstance of the Egyptians being struck wi4i
lightning, as well as being ov^whelmed with the waves, is the more
remarkable, since it is unnoticed in the Pentateuch, aad is mentionedf
but only incidentally, in the 77th Psalm : «< Thou hast with thy hand
redeemed thy people* the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The
waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid : the
depths also were troubled. The douds poured out water: the skies
sent out a sound : thioe arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy
diunder was in the heaven: the fightnings lightened the world: the
earth trembled and shook.*' A similar tradition, though less minutely
particular, is mentioned by Diodorus as eadsting even at the time
when he wrote* He relates that among the Ichthyophagi, the nativea
of the spot, a tradition is given which is preserved from their ances-
tors, that by a great ebb of the waters, the whole bosom of the gulf
became dry, disclosing its weeds, the sea rolling upon die opposite
shore. But the bare earth having been rendered visible from ihe very
bottom of the abyss, the tide returning in its strengtii restored the
passage once moro to its former condition." Nor is the old tradi-
tion of the country even yet extinct. According to a learned and
respeetable modem traveler, Dr. Shaw, the inhabitants of Gorondel
and its neighborhood (on the eastern side of the Red Sea) to this day
preserve the remembrance of the deliverance of the Israelites ; which
event is further confirmed by the Red sea being called by the Ara-
bian geographers <« the sea of Kalzum^ that is of destruction/' The
very country indeed whero the event is said to have happened, bean
testimony in some degree to the accuracy of the Mosaic narrative.
Still ia the scriptural Etham denominated Ecla: the wilderness of
Shur^ die mountain of Sinai^ and the country of Parau are stillf
known by the same names ; and Marah, Elath^ and Midian aro still'
fiuniliar to the ears of the Arabs. The grove of Elim yet remains ;
and ks twelve fountains have neither decreased nor diminished in
numbeir since the days of Moses."*
The writer of the Orphic verses^ whoever he was, after saytng that
diero waa but one God to be worshiped^ who was the Crealpr and
Ciovernor of the world, adds
80 was it said of old, so ke commandf
Who, bom of water, received of God
TI10 doable tables of the l#w.
Diodorus Siciilus, in his first book, where he treats of those who
^ _ - -■ ^
* Dr.0haEw's Traveltf in Baibazy md the Letant,
P « '
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170 CREIIIB!IilTy AND ANTIQUITY OP
made the gods to be the authora of these laws, says, « Amongst Hie
^ws was Moses, who caUed God by the name of louii,'* i. e. Jeho-
vah ! which was so pronounced by the oracles, and in die Orphic
Terses mentioned by the ancients, and by the Syrians.
Dionysius Longinus, who Ihred m the time of Aurelian, the empe«
TOfy says, he who gave laws to ihe Jews was an extraordinary man,
who conceived and spacke worthy of the power of God, when he
writes in the beginning of his laws, God spal^o: what? Let there be
light, and there was light. Let ear^ be, and it was so. As a pro-
mulgator of a new religion^ wholly divested ef idolatry, Strabo de-
scribes Moses as abandoning Egypt, followed by those who wor-
shiped God alone, and planting his people and his faith in that land
ef which Jerusalem was afterwards the capital.
The name of the desert. El Tih, or the wandering, is yet a testi-
mony of the wanderings of the Israelites. And in reference to the
history of Moses, Laborde, who partly traversed the same ronte, states
that the Bible is so precisely true, that it is only by a close attention
to each word that all its merits can be discovered.* The tomb of
Aaron, on the summit of Mount Hor, is one of the most conspicuous
objects in the land of Edom, and, surrounded as it is by many an evi-
dence of prophetic truth, still bears testimony to the death and bvying
place of the first high priest of Israel. Aaron died these on the top
of the mount. Though, till within a few years, unheard of and
unknown, and situated in the midst of the land of the enemies of
Israel; though &r many ages possessed by the wild Arabs, neitlier
of Israelttish nor of Christian faith ; yet (here, on the top of Mount
Hor, where he died, is the tomb of Aaron, a memorial on the spot
Thus it appears from collateral testimony, to say nothing of the
' internal evidence of the sacred books themselves, that there is no rea-
son to doubt that Moses was not, as has been asserted, a mythological
person, but a real character, and an eminent legislator; and that the
miraculous events, which are recorded concerning the Israelites in
the first period of their history as a nation, did transpire ; for^ as has
beei\ shown, the psincipd facts related in the books of Moses do not
depend upon his solitary testimony, but (hey are supported by the
concurrent testimony of all nations.
Another, and a very conclusive evidence of the truth of the Mosaic
history^ but which appears to have escaped the notice of all who have
written upon this subject, with the exception of l^i;. Keith, is here
• Labofdfl^ Yoyace de L'Aiabie Petrie, p* 39.
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THE OLD TESTAMJBNT 8CBIPTURE8. 173
piesenled to the reader, (roin his admirable work, «« The Demonstra-
tion of the Truth of Ghrvstianity/'
•« The name of Feleg^ the son of Eber, and an ancestor of Abra-
ham, has a literal significancy worthy of the place which it occupies,
and the importance of which may now be appreciated. The Hebrew
word P«^^ signifies dtviaion. And that name was given to him;
^^for in his days was the earth divided " " among the families of the
sons of Noah, a(kr their generations in their nations.*'* Or, in other
words, as modem discoyeries or researches show, ** all the epochs of
piimitive kingdoms fall in with Peleg's lifetime," whose name denotes
their division.
Coeval with the days of t^eleg was the building of Babel ; ttid up
to the period when .Hhe great family of man was divided into distinct
nations, and spread over the earth, may be traced the diversity of
tongues. And, combining historic wi& prophetic truth, the eailiest
of cities supplies, from the first as to the last, its concurring testi*
mony. While the judgment-stricken Babylon, cut down to the
ground because it had striven against the Lord, is spread forth as a
tablet on which the spirit of prophecy has set its seal, and has stamped
with many indelible impressioiis, as its own, the name (Babel, or
Babylon, «. e., confu8iorA) yet remains an undecaying memorial of
the confusion of tongues. And while the walls of the greatest city
on which the sun ever shond have long ceased to be the wonder of
the world, except in their being utterly broken, the name of Babel, or
Babylon, no longer a terror to the nations, is a proverb to the people,
and in all the ends of the earth still beaiiffconcurring testimony to the
cause of the original dispersion of our race.
The next great event, alike, influential on the fate of the world, and
calculated ultimately to bring all mankind into one family— the house-
hold of the faith — was the call of Abraham, and the covenant of God
with the patriarch, whose name is no less renowned than that of Baby-
lon. And. like another nail fastened in a sure place, that name was
given by the Lord. '^ God talked with him, saying. As for me, be-
hold my covenant is with thee ; and thou shalt be a father of many
nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abjram ; but thy
name shall be called Abraham ; for a father of many nations have I
made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitflQ; and I will
make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee."^
While the whole history of the Jews, in every age and in every
•G«D.z.S6— 8S. tIbid.zL9. t Ibid. xviL 4-6.
p2
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174 OBBIHBILITY ARD AinTQUTTY OF
land, if t perpetaal proof of the inspiratioii of the ScriptUTee, a still
existing progenjf " namerous as the stars of heaTen," and scattered
over ihe earth* eren as these bespangle the firmament, is an existing
proof that none bat the Omniscient could, in trnth, haye given to their
primogenitor the name of Abraham^ i. e., tht father of a muUUude.
To whom else, since his days, can the name so appropriately pertain,
as to him whose descendants peopled Palestine, Edom, and Arabia;
and whom the Arabs, with their moltitode of tribes, and the Israelites,
dispersed throughout the earth, both alike still numbered by milliftna,
have claimed, for more than a hundred generaticms, as their common
father? And whose prophetic name yet awaits its full sigoifioancy,
till all the families of the earth shall be blessed in his seed, and all
nations shall call 'that num the father of the faithful ; to whom the
Lord thus spake, '* Thy name shall be Abraham ; for a finther of many
nations have I made thee ;" and of whom he said, << I am the God of
Alnraham/' Not a word can come \a vain from the mouth of the
Lord ; and as'this word has not returned void, but is still proved by
millions, or multitudes of the seed of Abraham, so that name itself^
literally understood, cannot be repeated without perpetuating the tes-
timony which it bears to ^ call of Abraham.
But th6 name of Abraham was not the only patronymic first given on
that selftame day, but to be hdd in everlasting remembrance. The
change of a syllable and of a letter gave a prophetic significancy to the
names of Abram and Sand, and, in their new names, Abraham and
Sarah imbodied the promise of the Lord, of which future ages have
manifested the fufiUment Nations hoot called her mother who was
then known only as aged and childless : and races of kings in Jeru-
salem and Samaria, aAer the lapse of a thousand years, gloried in
their pedigree from the venerable pair that pitched their tent in die
plain of Mamre many centuries before there was a king in Israel*
Prophecies yet unfulfilled speak of their descendants, when finally
restored to Zion, as those for whom the isles shall surely wait, unto
whom the kings of the Gentiles shall minister, and whom the nations
and kingdoms shall serve or be destroyed. But the name of Sarah
OT princess f as given by the Lord, has received such illustrationaof its
significancy in ages past; as naturally starded, on their announcement,
the faith of Abraham. ** And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai
thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name
be. And I will bless her and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will
bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations ; kings of people shall
be of her* Then Abraham fell u|N>n (lis hce and laughed, and said
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THE OLD TBSTABIBNT SCRIPTURES. \n
m hk heart, Shall a child be bom unto him that ia an hnndred years
old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear ?"* The incredu-
lity of man may ever be overruled for die confirmation of the word
diat is of God. And while the covenant, which, whether in its ob-
servance or its breach on the part of the Israelites or Edomites, has
been ratified by blessings and by judgments, such as no other cove-
umt but that made with Adam ever was, has stood for nearly four
thousand years, and yet awaits its final and everlasting confirmation,
^ laughter of Abraham, though he had fallen on his face, and of
Sarah who subsequently laughed within herself and denied it with her
ttmgue, has firom that hour been commemorated, though unconsciously,
in the name of Isaac. *< And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee
a son indeed ; and thou shalt call his name Isaac (i. e. laughter) ; and
I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and
with'lus seed a^r him."t
Never were names so indelibly affixed to any covenant betw^n
man and man, as those which may thus be identified as originating in
the covenant of God with Abraham. There was not then another
man upon the earth of whose descendants even the existence is now
known, or to whom such a promise could, in truth, have been given.
And is there a man upon the earth who knows not at sight the He-
brew race ? or Who may not see from their existence and their num-
ber that God alone could have given to Abram the Hebrew name of
Abraham t In no country on earth could we search in vain for living
commentaries on that name. And there was not then, besides Hagar,
another woman' upon earth but Sarah only, whom any nation or any
individual now caUs mother, or of whom it is recorded that kings
were descended. But to her unchangable name, when once it was
given by the Lord, is attached the unrepealed promise, kings of the
natione shaU be of her. And if belief be founded on experience, as
our enemies maintain^ and as Christians may fearlessly concede, mil-
lenaries, or thousands of years, go far by their testimony to prove
&at that covenant was everlasting, the apparent and natural impossi-
bility of the ratification of which, even for a single year, gave rise to
the incredulity even in &e breast of Abraham, which has yet its me-
morial in every enunciation of the name of Isaac. It needs no proof
that human compacts are dissolved by time; as their seals of wax melt
before the fire. The longer that ib the declared term of their validity,
the more surely, in general, are they ultunately valueless, or pass
• Gen. xrii. 15— 17. fll^^'^^l^-
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176 CREBIBILrrY AND ANTIQUITY OF
away as if they had never been. Who can tell how great is the nam*
bei^— the numbers without number— of compacts between man and
man, or of treaties between nation and nation, which have never been
heard of, or are nothiiig now ? And how many, though designated
perpetual, are ever vanishing away like bubbles on the ocean! But
the declaration that the covenant of the Lord with Abraham and with
his then unborn son was to be everlasting, is now, after the lapse of
thirty-eight centuries, a strong confirmation that jt was the covenant
of Him who changeth not, and with whom all things are possible ;
for who but God, setting up the very name as a witness that it was
then deemed incredible, could have said that it would have lasted till
now ? And to that cavenant in that selfsame day, as may here be
passingly noted, there was affixed- a perpetual seal, which, throughout
all intervening ages, has set apart the seed of Abraham irom the tui-
ciratmcised Gentiles.
While the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, the eldest son of
Abraham, *' armed against mankind," have ever maintained their pro-
phetic character, and still continue unsubdued and wild, till ** Kedar's
wilderness afar" shall make its voice to be heard in the harmonious
symphony of all nations, the name of hhmaeU i* e., the Lord 9haU
hear,* testifies to the fact that, when his mother, Hagar, harshly dealt ,
with by the envious Salhd, fled from her face, and sat houseless,
disconsolate, and forlorn by a fountain .of water in the wilderness,
the fountain in the way of Shur, the Lord heard her affliction, and
named, by his angel, her yet unbbm son, and there gave^the promise
which he has fulfilled, in despite of all the efibrts of Persians, Gre-
cians, Romans* Moguls, and Tartars, who in vain have sought to
subjugate the seed of Ishmael. And as the promise has thus its
proofs that it v^as given by the -Lord, the name of Ishmael testifies
that the Lord did hear when a friendless and lonely outcast cried at
;a fountain in the wilderness ; and that fountain had from dience its
name— ^eer-^oAm-rot, i. e., the well of him theU liveth and seeth
m^t — and thus became another witness or memorial of the fact, to be
added to the name. of Ishmael.
The name of Beer-sheba^ the well of the oath^ brings us back to
witness, ki all the simplicity of patriarchal times, the covenant be-
tween Abraham and Abimelech.} There, where Abraham planted, a
grove, Isaac built a city, which was long famous in Israel as forming
the termination of Judea on the south, and which subsist^ under the
*Gaieiifl,xvi 11. 'l-Ibid.xviU ^ IbiiL zxi 87— 3SL
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THB OLD TESTAMENT SOREPTUREa I77
I name, at least, till the fifUi omtqiy of oor era: ^ and the narne^
yet marking the spot, is sAl a memorial of that odyenant which itself
to last but for three generations.
Abraham left not die mountain where his hand was stayed, afler it
I stretched forth to slay his son, without consecrafing the place, by
a new name, to the glory of God, who had provided a burnt-offering
in the stead of Isaao-Vj^AovoA^'treA, the Lord wiU provide.
In desolate Edom we see the proo£i that the judgments pronounced
against the Edomites, because of their hatred against the children of
Isra^ were indeed of Ood : and in the very name of Edoni, i. e.,
redf therefore given unto £8au,t we see the color of the dear-bought
mess for which he forfeited the birthright he despised ; and the line of
promise was transferred from him, when wilfolly renpunced, to his
younger brother*
The name of Zoar, little^ which long subsisted as a town aflfer the
great and guilty cities of the plain were buried, in the waters of the
Dead sea, is a comment on the words of Lot as he fled from the im-
pending destruction. . This city is near to flee unto, and it is a Utde
one ; therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.l
As the land and cities of Moab, desolate and broken down, plainly
show at present that the prophets of Israel literally foretold their fate,
so the name of Moab^ i. e., of the father^ has ever told as plainly in
in in literal significancy the incestuous origin of the son of Lot, who
was the &ther of the Moabites.$ ^
Neither diversity of condition, nor change of place, nor distance
of time, has obliterated the marks by which the Jews were distin-
guished as a peculiar people, and even the fashion of their counten-
ance testifies the common origin of the Hebrew race. The family
likeness of the seed of Jacob, is clearly traceable between the Israel-
itish bondsmen in the days of Pharaoh, and the Israelitish creditors
of European kingdoms in the present day; and their fate, in every age
and in every land, as foretold by the prophets, is of itself a standing
miracle. • And, in like manner, the history of the father of the twelve
tribes of Israel is not only' recorded in Scripture with all the precision
of a tale of yesterday, but names which are as familiar as those of a
friend, or of the place of our habitation, may serve to set the chief
fecto of that history before us.
Whether at his birth he took his twin but elder brother by the heel,
or in his manhood supplanted him and obtained from his father the
• HiflTOD. t. wL 174. f GenenB, xxr. 30. t Ibid. xix. 30—32. ^ Ibid. zviiL 87.
23
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178 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
blessiiif of the fintb(mi« as indicated by the name of Jacobs* sifni*
fying both the hed and be that nqtpbmieihf even as his race^ accord-
ing to express predictions and to fact, has supplanted and surrived
that of Esau ; or whether th^ childless Jacob, then a houseless wan-
derer, in datiger of his life, having fled from the face of his angry
brother, lay down at night to sleep, with nothing bot the earth for his
couch and a stone for his pillow, and saw in his dream a ladder set
up on the earth but reaching to heaven, and saw the Lord stand above
it, and heted the promise that he, the God of Abraham and of Isaacs
would give to him and to his seed the land whereon he lay, and that hia
seed should be as the dust of the earth, as still they are ; and that he
should spread abroad to the east and to the west, to the north and to
the south, as they have beei^ ; and that in hi3 seed all the families of
the earth should be blessed, as now they may ; and Jacob, awaking,
said. This is none other than the house of God, and set op the stone
for a pillar, and poured oil on it, and called' the name of that place
Bethel^ i. e., the house of God,t whence originated that celebrated
mty and everlasting name : whether he made a covenant with Laban,
and desired his brethren to take stones and make a heap, and called it
Qaleedf or the heap of toitnees^ as a witness between them ; or, Ap-
pealing to the Lord to watch between them, he called it JkRzpah^ i. e.,
the v)atch4ower^% as the city of that name more than the heap did in
future ages testify, and as the history of his race and the yet auspi-
cious prophecies respecting them bear witness that the Lord is the
watchtower of Israel: whether, on hii return to Canaan, the angels
of the Lord met him on his. way, and he called the name of that place
— also in aAer ages a city long famous in Israel — Mahanmm^ or two
hosts i^ of whether, soon after the Lord appeared unto him, on his
again setding in jthat land after an absence of many years, and said
unto him. Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, i. e., a
prince of ^rf,1f shall thy name be, for as a prince hast thou power
with God and. with men, and hast prevailed : whether he called the
name of that place Pmtc/, i. e., the face of God,^* because he had
there seen God face to face ; or bought, as his first purchase in Ca-
naan, a pavcel of a field near to Shechem, and erected there an altar,
and called it EUehirisraeU God the God of Israel fH whether, on
journeying to Succoth, he built him a house and made booths for his
• Gen. XTW. 86. fl^d. xxviL 18, 19. i Ibid. xxxL 48.
^Ibid. xzxL 49. | Ibid, xzzil 3. 1 lb. xxziL 88.
••lb. xxxiL 30. tfll*- ""ii- ^
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 179
ttttte, he therefore called the name of the place Suecotlh or boathi; *
or, removiog to Bethel to dwell there, he huilt an altar and called it
JSl4fethdf the Ood of Beiheisi whether twelve sons were horn to
Jacob or two to Joseph, all of whom were fathers of the tnbes of Is-
rael, the name of each had a significant appellation : whether Debo*
rah, Rebecca's nurse, died and was buried under an oak, and the
name of it was called ^UanrbachtUfh i* e., the oak of weeping $%
or whether the embalmed body of Jacob, as we read in 4he last chapter
of Genesis, was brought up from Egypt to be buried in Canaan by
Joseph and his brethren, accompanied by all the elders of the land
of Egypt, who mourned with a great and rery sore lamentation for
seven days at the floor 6f Atad, and the Ganaanites called the name
of the place Mel-mizraim^ or the mourning of the Egyptians; $
each of these events, besides being committed to a written record, had
UB express and appropriate designation in the liters signiflcancy of
the names which still represent or describe them. The sites of cities
in Israel marked the wanderings, and their named told the chief acts
of Jacob, the father of the fathers of its tribes. And while the facts
which these names set forth are guaranteed by their association with
the repeated renewal to Jacob of the covenant of the Lord with Abra-
ham and Isaac, and with prophecies hitherto accomplished, and while
it remains yet to be seen, whenever the '' set time ** shall be come,
that the Lord did give the 'name i>f Israel unto Jacob, and that, at the
last, as at the first, it is he who, as a prince of Ghd, shall prevail
with Grod and with men, we may look back to the days of his pil*
grimag»on earth as it is recorded in the Bible, and see, in the history
of Jacob, how the names of persons end of places .were the constitu-
ted memorials or testimonials of facts, in a manner or to a degree un-
paralleled, we will say, in the history 6f all other men, from the cre-
ation of the world to the present hour.
Moses, a name familiar to all, is not without its significancy, but
plainly tells us that the leader and legislatctr of Israel was oncq a help-
less babe drawn out of the watersJI for such — drawn out — ^is the lit-
eral meaning of the word. At the time when the children of Israel
increased abundandy, and multiplied, and waxed excee(fing great in
the land of Egypt, and a new king s^ose who knew not Joseph, not
only were task-masters set over them to afflict them with their bur-
dens—as a picture shows— but Pharaoh commanded that every son
that was bom among them should be cast info the river. And, as the
^OeD.xxziii.17. tni.xxzT.7. ^Ihzxxr.S.. ^Ib. 1. 11. | Exodm ii. 10.
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ISO . CBEDIBILTY AND ANTIQUITY OF
name imports, one drawn out of the river by Pharaoh's daughter,
and hence so named* avenged on the king of Eg3rpt and his host the
wrongs of Israel. Of his two sons, the name of the one was Ger-
sAom, i. e., a '* aiiranger here,"* and the other Eliezery i. e., my God
an Ad^,t expressly denote how he was a stranger in die land of
Midian, and how his God was an help and delivered him Out of the
hand of Pharaohs The, prophets declared of old that the Lord wiU
yet lift up 'a standard for his people Israel, and will help and deliver
them from the hand of their enemies } and whep the firqt of the na-
tions that fought for the first time against the Israelites were discom-
fited while Moses lifted up his rod, he erected there an altar, and call-
ed it JehovahrNiisif i. e., the Lord my banner.X Though places in
Ae desert, Massah^ signifying temptation; Meribah^ chiding at
etrife;^ Taberah^ burning ^i and Kibroth-hattavah,' or the gravee
rf them that lu8ted^% became responsive to the memorable scriptural
facts, that the Israelites tempted the Lord; that they did chide or
strive with his servant Moses ; that in the fierce anger of the Lord
many of them were burned; and that after they had gotten the meat
for which they lusted^ a great plague came upon them, and turned
the place' of their repast into a field of graves. After the desert,
from the long wandering of the Israelites, had merited the name it
still bears, the altered name of Joshua^** u e. the Saviour^ more
worthily applied than that of Ptolemy Sotttr^ designates the man who
led them into Canaan, and planted the wanderers in the land of prom-
ise.
While there is abundant proof that Judea, though long desolate,
was once a land of vines, the name of EschoU a cluster of grapesM
marked to ages, then future, the brook or valley from whence a branch
with a cluster of gtapes w^s brought by the spies in token of the fer-
tility of the Land of Promise, so soon as the wandering Israelites first
approached its borders. When the iniquity of the Amorites was full
Hormah^^ i. e., utter destruction^ was the new name of the monu-
mental city, that needed no inscription to tell the utter destruction
of the Ganaanites and their cities. Cities of Israel arose where the
pilgrim Jacob had journeyed; and new cities, with new names, were
built where those of the Canaanites had stood. To this day, as
Burckhardt relates, and as every traveler sees, <«The ruins of Eleale,
*Exodii8iL83. flkxriiLi. tIb.zmlS.
% lb. xriL 7. | Nam. zL 8. 1 1bid. xL 84.
"^'IKxilLie. -ttlb-oOiLSi. ttDnd^xzL2. Jodgeti. 17.
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THB OLD TBaTAMEZfT SCBmUBBft. ' 181
Kathboii, Meon, MediJxm, Diboii« Aroer, atiU subskt to illuttrmts
the history of the Beni-Israel." And while their ruins -testify that
Ifae word of 'prophecy is turtf the same Hebrew names attached to
each spot illustrate the history of their origin. ** And the diildren
ef Gad built Dibon and Aroer, !»• And the children of Reuben
built Heshbon, and Eltoleh* and Nebo, and Bakneon {their names
being changed)^ and gave other names u«to the cities which they,
builded. And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took the small
towns of Gilead, and called them Havoth-jsdr. And Nohah went and
took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his
own name."* No scioner, as it is recorded, was the Jordan passed,
twdve stones set up for a memorial, and the children of UneL chh
eunctsed a second iime, omd the reproach of Egjrpt rolled away, as
die Lord said unto Joshua, than, according to the word, the still "well*
known name of CHlgalf i. e., roUinf^ was given unto the place of
the first encampment in Judea of the victorious Israelites, who afore*
time were despised bondsmen in the land of Egypt ^Whik k maA
was set from the beginning on the first cities of Israel, times yet fu-
tare are destined to bear testimony to. die predicted fact, that the des*
olations afmany gen&aHons ihoM be raisedvp^ and that they sh^ all
be cities <rf Israel again, and (qt ever. And the word has ti^us a wi^
ness in itself for more tlian a hundred generations. That judgm^nls
have fiHen on the Jews and &n their land because of their iniquities,
an these facts and all the features of their land give proof. And that
frotfUe, from the first, came on Israel when there was an Achan in
the camp, the valley of ^chqr^ i. e., traublej;. from thaft time fordi
was an enduring memorial. And the name of Bochim, i. e., ioeqh
ifi^,$ designated the place where the children of Israel lifled up their
toices and wept when, charged with disobedience and threatened
with punishment, diey were told that the inhabitants of the bad
whom they had noU driven out would be a sore in their sides and a
snare unto their souls.
The place where Samson was avenged of the Philistinef, afterward
witnessed by its name LM^ a jawbont,t by how slender an instru*
ment deliverance waa wrought to Israel ; * and RcmatMehi^ the ca^
mg eway of the jawbone^^ still more significantly marked the i^aoe
where it was cast away. ^
Though the lips of Hannah spake not, while in her heart die
♦Num. xxxii 84-4S. +Jodii. t. 9. *Ibid. m t«.
^Jndgw&l. |Ib.xT. a. tIfaid.XT.17.
Q
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Ml .CSBBDIBILITr AND AHnQlHTf Of
pr^red that die might have a iod, the aaoie of Smmd literaHf Ida
that he was a$ktd of Ood.*
. Manj daya and yeaca, aa llie |Hro^efti fiuretold and bewailed* haw
the davghtora of Jadah tsembled and lamented, and the whole honae
of larael Jhaa long. remained, without »ephod» ten^him, or aacnfioa.
And the name of IcAabod^r'^thertu no glofy-nahowp that of oM thooe
waa a time when gnef fiur the loaa of the ark of the Lord prevailed ia
the heart of a mother in larael oi^er that for the death of a haabandt
and would not be allayed by the birth of a aon; to whom her bit
words, at his first breath, gave that memorable and melancholy name.
But larad'a help can come only firom Him who is mighty to aave
as to amto. And when the man, whose name imports that he was
miked of GM, having gathefed Israel together, aaw their enemies
again flee before them, he wrote the (act upon the spot where ho
stood, by erecting a piUar and ' calling it by the name— ever endeared
to every Chriatian as to any JeW'^^Ebenozeff the etone ^ A^p4 in
grateAd and enduring memorial that the Lord had helped him. .
The earliest portion of scriptural history being full of significant
names, ii thus corroborated by manifold memorials, such as no other
, history, to an equal or comparaUe degree, dver possessed. The
names of persons and of j^ces need but to be translated, as in the
mai^ of the Bible, to announce or- intimate the facts from which
they originated* Each name has Its meaning, and was the repreien*
lation of a fact The land of" Judea was studded with memorials;
and the most prominent events in the eariy history of the Hebrew
caoe woe t<dd, generatiou afier generation, by renowned names, of
whidi no Israelite could have been ignorant, and which none could
have falsely imposed, in after ages, upon any people, as those of their
patriarchal forefathers <Hr rulers, o^ those of the cities which they
knew, or in which they themselves did dwell. What atronger proofa
of ancient foots are to be found than that cities, as living witnesses,
should htf?e xleclared tfr confirmed them by their very namea T But
if such credentials of Israelitish history be sought for, they are sup-
plied by existing memorials, that have been apread throughout the'
worid. Positive institutions oi; rites were also ordained to be observed
in every generation, as express m^norials of the wonders which the
Lord wrought in Israel. His everlisting covenant was not without
an enduring aeaL Hit work was not left without a witness on earth ;
but ordin^oes were established to perpetuate its remembrance ; even
*l8anMMlLS0. tnnd.iT.ai. #Ibid.viLlS.
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THE OLD TSOTAMENT 8CRIPTUSB8. ISt
m the tpkit of ptopheoj stamped hi« word at divine, and haiB giv«n
Id ]da jadgntentB a Tisible manifeatatkni."*
With regard Id the history of the Israelites snbseqneBtly to the
fffiag ci the law, until ^ Babylonish captivity, many of the state*
■ents of the dd Testament are cerroborated by profane writers : a
few instances will be adduced. Herodotus, the most ancient of the
ffofime historians, recorded that the £g3rptian pnests had stated
Asy had traditions ofihe sun's faavin^ in .very remote ages, four times
departed from his regular eojurse, having twice set where he ought to
have risen, and twice risen where he ought to have set. This singular
tradition remmds us of what is related in the book of Joshua, ** That
^ son s^eod still in the midst of- heaven, and hastened not to go
down abont a whole day ;*' and allBO what is related in the history of
Bezekiah, ** That &e sun went.back ten degi:ees on the dialof Ahaz.'f
The priests, ef Egypt professed to explain the revolutions of the Nile,
Ae fertility .of their country, and the state of public health, by the
ioflnesce of the sun ; and therefore in mentioning Ae unexampled
tfaditionel phenomena allnded to, they adverted to a circumstance,
which to them appeared as remarkable as the fkcts themselves, tfut
these angular deviations of the sun from his course had produced no
sensible effects on the. state of th^ river, on the productions of itw
soil, on the progress of, diseases, or on deaths. The eircumstances
are not mentioned in ^ same* form by Joshua and Herodotas, but
Ihky ase in substance t&e same iB4)oth the narratives. And supposing
the traditiona to be founded on jictsi it can scarcely be dbubtcMl that
they rdate to Uie events mentioned in Scripture ; espei&ially when we
leei^ect that where so -much was ascribed to the influepce of the sun,
SQoh remarkable deviations from ^ course of ordinary experience,
ooidd not £ul to be handM dbwn through many ages.t ^
The cincum^tance of Jepthah's devotmg his daughter, must have
been the true origin of the story of the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her
frdier Agamemnon. The history of 8am8on'8*being shaved by Deli-
lah, most probably, was the origin of the story of Scylia's cutting off
^ the purple lock of her father Nisus, king of Megara, which i^e gave
to hie enemy, Minos, widi whom he was then at war, and by diat
means destroyed both him and his kingdom. And the names of both
David and Solomon, together with many remarkable circumstances in
their history, and agreeing with the Old Testament history, were
known to some of the ancient heathen writers.
* Keith's DemomstratioD^ pp. 106 116.
f Home's Introdtictwato tie Study of the Scriptore^voLL p. 187. '
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184 CHEBIBILmf AND ANTIQUITY OF
In the chronides of the kings of Jndah, ne read that Sohoiboam
(die son of Solomon) forsook the law of the tiOrd, and all Israel with
him. And in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak, king of
Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, and took ihe fenced cities of Jii-
^ah, and came to Jerusalem. ** Then came Sbemaiah the prophet, to
Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together
to Jemsalemy because of ShishsJc, and said unto them ; Thus saith the
Lord, ye have forsaken me,«and therefore have I also left you m the
hand of Shishak, Whereupon the pripces of Israel and the king
humbled themselves; and they said. The Lord is righteous. And
when the Lord saw that they humbly themselves, the word of ^
Lord came to Shemaiah, saying. They have humbled 'themselvesy
therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliver-
ance and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the
hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they ^hall be his servants,. that
they mzy know my service, and the service of the kings of the coun-
tries. So ShishsJc, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem^ and
took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures
of the king's house^j he carried away also the shields of gold, Which
Solomon had made.'^ This temporary triumph of the E3rptians ov^
the Jews, is confirmed by a drawing found in Egypt, in which Shi-
shak, or Sheshouk, king of Egypt, is repi;psented as dragging the
ebieft-of about thirty conquered nations to the* feet of the idols of
Thebes; and one, of these is represented in hieroglyphic characters
as Jauaha Makkf or the king of Judah.
The account of the war, carried on by Pharaoh-Necho against the
Jews atfd Babylonians, (whioh is related in the second book of Chroni-
cles,) is confirmed by the testimony of the Greek historian, Herodotus,
and especially by the recent discoveries of the enterprising traveler,
M. Belxoni, among the tombs of the Egyptian sovereigns. The follow-
ing is the narrative of the sacred historian, in 2 Chson. xxxv. 20-^4.
«« After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho, king
of Egypt, can^e i)p to fight against Carchemish, by Euphrates; and
Josiah went -out against hii^. But he sent ambassadors to him, say-
ing, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah T I come not
against thee this day, but again t the house wherewith I have war;
for Gk)d commanded me to make haste ; forbear thee froih meddling
with Ood> who is widi roe, that he destroy thee not Nevertheless,
Josiah would not turn his face horn him, but disguised himself, that
• 2 Chnm. zM. 1—9.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SGBIPTUltte. |86
he might fight with him ; and heackened not unto the vorda of Necho,
from the mouth of God, and ci^me to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
And the archers shot at king Joeiah ; and the king said to his servants,
have me away, for I am.sore wounded. His servants therefore took
him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he
had ; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried
in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Ju4ah and Jerasa*
lem mourned for Josiah.V And again, in chap, xxxvi. 1-^. <* Then
1he people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him
king in his father's stead m Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty and
three yean old when he began to reign ; and he reigned three months
in Jerusalem. And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem,
and condemned the land in an hundred talents of stiver, and a talei^t of
gold. And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over
Jttdah and Jerusalem, tod turned his name to ^ehoiakim. ^nd Ne*
tho took Jehoahaz his brother^ and. carried him into Egypt y
These passages prove the power and conquest of Pharaoh-Neche ;
.and if we turn to Herodotus, we shall find a wonderful agreement
with many of the particulars. Now Necos was the son of Ps^am-
tneticus, and reigned pver Eg3^t ; it was he who began the canals,
^., and he employed himself in wailike pursuits ; buUding galleys,
both on the Mediterranean and on the Red sea, the traces of his dock-
yards still existing ; and these he used when he had occasioa for
tiiem. And Necus joined battle with the S3nrians in Magdolus, and
conquered them ; and afler the battle he took Cad3rtis, a large city of
Syria. And having reigned in the whole sixteen years, he died, and
left the throne to his son Psammls. Gadytis is again mentioned by this
historian, as belonging to the Syrians of Palestine, and as a city not
lem than -Sardis ; so that there is no doubt that he intended Jerusalem,
which (it is well known) was son^e timos called Kadesh, or the Hdy. .
We now come to the researches of M • Belzoni in the tomb of
Psainmethis or Psammis, the son of Pharaoh-Necho.
«< In one of the numerous apartments of this venerable monntnent'
of ancient art, there is a sculptured group describing the march of a
military and triumphal procession, wiUi three different sets of prison-
ers, who ai^ evidently Jews, Ethiopians, and Persians. The proces-
sion begins with four red men with white kirdes followed by a hawk-
hes^ed divinity; these- are Eg3rptians, apparendy released from c^p*
tivity, and returning home under the protection of the national deity.
Then follow foiir white men in striped and fringed kirtles, with black
beards, and with a simple white fillet round their black hair; these
q2 24 '
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186 CSBBIBltmr AND ANTIQUITT OF
are obviously Jews, and might be taken for the portraits of those,
who, at this day, walk the streets of London. After them come
three white men with sm^er beards and curled whiskers, with doa-
ble spreading plumes on their heads, tattooed, and wearing robes or
^mantles spotted like the skins of wild beasts ; these are ^Persians or
Chaldeans. Lastly, come four negroes witfi large' circular ear-ringSy
and white petticoats supported by a belt over the shoulder ; these are
Ethiopians.
Among the hiero^ypbics contained in M. BetzonVs drawings of
this tomb. Dr. Toung (secretary of the Royal Society) who is pre*
eminently distinguished for his successful researches in archeology,
^eceeded in discovering the names of Nichao (the iVfcAo of the
Scriptures and Neco$ of Herodotus) and of Psammethis.
• The narrative of the invasion of the kingdom of Israel by Shal-
maneser, king of Ass3rria, and of- the carrying ojf the ten tribes into
captivity, which' is related in 2 Kings xvii. 6. and xviii. 10. is con-
firmed by certain ancient sculptures, on the mountain of Be-Sitoon,
near the borders of the ancient Assyria. For the knowledge of these
antiquities, we are indebted to the persevering researches of Sir Ro-
bert Ker Porter,^ by whom they were ^rst discovered and delineated,
and who has thus described them.
After an account of some ancient Assyrian sculptures, which are
ascnbed to Semiramis, he thus proceeds : *< At a point something
higher up than the rough, gigantic forms just described, in a very
precipitous cleft, there appeared to me a still more interesting piece
of sculpture, though probably not of such deep antiquity. Even
at so vast a height^ the first glance showed it to be a work of
some age accomplished in the art; for all here was executed with, the
pare and fine expression of the vfsry best at Persepolis. I could not
resist the impulse to examine it nearer than from the distance of the
ground, and would have been glad of queen Semiramis' stage of
packs and fardles. T6 approach at all was a business of difficulty
and danger ; however, after much scrambling and climbing, I at last
got pretty far up the rock, and finding a ledge, placed myself on it as
firmly as I could^ but still I was farther from the object of all Uiis
peril than I had hoped ; yet, my eyes being tolerably long-sighted,
and my glass more so, I managed to copy the whole sculpture with
considerable exactness.
It contains fourteen figures, one of which is in the air. The first
figure (to our lefl in facing the sculpture) carries a spear, and is in '
the full medium habit, like the leaders of the guards at Persepolis :
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURE8. 187
kis htir is in a simikr fashion, and bound with a fillet. The seeond
figure holds a bent bow in his left hand ; he is in much the same
dress, with the addition of a quiver idung at his back by a belt that
crosses his right shoulder, and his wrists are adorned widi bracelets.
The third personage is of a stature much larger than any oUier in the
group, A usual distinction of royalty in oriental description; and, from
the air and attitude of the figure, I have no doubt he is made to design
nate the king. The costume, excepting die beard not being quite so
Vmg^ is precisely that of the regal 'dignity, exhibited in the bas-reliefs
of N^hi-Roustain, ai^d Peifeepolis : a mixture of the pontiff-king
and the other sovereign personages, the robe being the ample ves- .
ture of the on^ and the diadem the simple band of the other: a style
of crown which appears to have been the nCiost ancient badge of su-
premacy on eitl^er king or poiitiff. Bu^ as persons of inferior rank
also wore fillets, it se^ms the distinction between theirs and their
sovereign's consisted in the mateiial or cblor. For instance, the
band, or eydans, which formed the essential part in the old Persian
diadem, was composed of a twined l^ubstance of purple anc)* white ;
and any^^person* below the royal dignity presuming to wear those
colors, unsanctioned by the king, was guilty of ^ transgression di the
law, deemed equal to high treason. The fillets of the priesthood
were probably white or silver ; and the circlets of* kings, in general,
simple gold. Bracelets are on the wrists of this per^onafe, and h^
holds up his hand in a commanding or admonitory manner, the two
fore-fingers being extended, and the two others doubled down in the
palm: an action also common on the tombs at Persepolis, and on
other monuments Just cited; his left hand grasps a bow of a different
shape from that held by his .officer, but exactly like the one on which
the king leans in the bas-relief on the tomb at Nakshi-Roustam. This
bow, together with the left foot of the personage I am describing,
rests on the body of a prostrate man, who lies on his back, with out-
stretched arms, in the act of supplicating for mercy. This 'unhappy
personage, and also the fii:st in the string of nine which advance
towards the king, are very much injured ; however, enough remains
of the almost defaced leader, when compared with the apparent con-
dition of the succeeding eight, to show that the whole nine are cap-
tives. The hands of all are tied behind their backs, and the cord is
very distinct which binds the neck of the one, to the neck of the other*
till the mark of bondage reaches to the last in the line. If it were
also ori^nally attadhed to the leader, the cord is now without trace
there; his hai(ds, however^ axe evidently in the same trammels as his
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188 CSEDIBILITT AND ANTIQUnT OP
fi>llowen. The second figure in iho procession has his hair so dos^
to his head, that.it appears to have been shaven, and a kind of canl
covers it from th6 top of the forehead to the middle of the head. He
is dressed in a short tunic, reaching no farther than the knee ; a belt
fastens it round the waist ; his legs are bare. Behind this figure is a
much older person, wiUi a rather pointed beard and bushy hair, and a
similar caul covers the 4op of his head. He too is habited in a short
tanic, wiUi something like the trowser or booted appearance on the
limbs, which is seen on some of tKe figures at Persepolis. In addi-
tion to the binding of the hands, the preceding figure, and this, ait
.fastened together by a rope round their necks, which runs onward,
noosing all the remaining eight in one, string. This last described
person has the great peculiarity attached to him^ of the skirt of his
garment being covered entirely with inscriptions in the arrow-headed
character. Next follows one in a long vestment, with full hair, with-
out the caul. Then another in *a short, plain tunic, with trowsers.
Then succeeds a second long vestment. ^ After him comes one in a
short tunic, wiUi naked legs, and apparently a perfectly bald head..
He is Mowed by another in long vestments. '^But the ninth, and
last in the group, whp also is in the ehort tunic and trowser, has the
' singularity of wearing a prodigious high-pointed cap; his beard and
hair are much ampler than any of his companions, and his face looks
. of a grealpr age. In the air, over the heads of the centre figures,
appears the floating Intelligence, in. his circle and car of sunbeams, so-
ofWa remarked on the sculptures of Nakshi^Roostam and Persep-
oUs.
Above the head of each individual in this bas-relief is a compart-
ment with an inscription in the arrow-headed writmg, most probably
descriptive of the character and situation of each person. And imme-
diately beloW' the sculpture, are two lines in the same language, run-
ning the whole length of the group. Und^ these again the excava-
tion is continued to a considerable extent, containing eight deep and
closely written columns in the same character.. From so much labor
having been ekerted on this part of the work, it excites more regret
that so little progress has yet been m^fie toward deciphering the char-
acter.
The design of this sculpture appears to tally so well with the great
event of the total conquest over I^el, by Salmaneser, king of Assjrria,
and the Medes, that I venture to suggest the possibility of this bas-
relief having been made to commemorate that final achievement Cer-
tain drcumstances attending the entiie' captivity of the ten tribea.
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TBK 014) nsOTAMBNT SCHiPl'UHBa 188
^}Adk took pbeo in a oooond attack on ^m nation, when conaideredf
floem to eonfirm the c<»jecture into a. strong probabfli^. The first
eipedition into Samaria^ the opnntrjr of the ten tribes, was led Either
hf Arbaees, (the Tigbitli-pfleser of the Seriptnres,) twenty years
sotarior to die one to wfaieh I woidd refer this bas-relief. Arbaoei
mdortod^ the first qnyasion at the instigation of Afaai, king of Judah;
who snbsidiied the Assyrian monarch, to ^x^ge him by aims on his
harassing neighbors, Pekah, king of Isi^ael, and Rexin, king of Syria,
wiio hbd ecAifederated against him. Arbaces oomplet^ly reduced the
ktler kingdom, slaying its king in battle, and making slates of its peo-
ple. He then entered those parts of the dominions of Pekah which
bordered on Syria; and la3ring waste tiie- whole east of Jordan, car-
ried away captire the chief of the people inhabiting ih^ towns of
Reoben, Gad, and Manasseh. Having marched back withtiis spoil,
'he planted the Israelites in Media, and his Syrian pfisanets on the
banks of the Tigris. Sooa after this fatal invasion, Pekah, king of
Inrael, was destroyed in a conspiracy by Hosea ; who, having mntf<-
dered his master reigned in his stead. About this time 'Arbaces (Tig-
litb-pileser) died, and was sncoeeded by his son Sfllmaneser, who,
as soon as he 'was settled on his throne, went over into Syria, and
thence falling upon the remainder of Israd, made a treaty with Hoses,
tUowing him to be king, and sparing the people, on condition that he
paid him tribute, and acknowledged his country the vassal of Assyria.
This took plaee about ten yaprs after the expedition of Tiglath-pile-
ser. B«t in ^ oourseof a very few yeara more, Hosea was spirited
up by So-Sabacan, kmg of Egypt, to attempt throwing off the yoko
of Ass3rria, by refusing Is pay the customary tribute. In chastisement
of this rebellion, Salmaneaor marched a large army iAto Samaria, and
overthrowing all 'opposed to him, took Hosea t»ptive, shut him up,
and bound hifn, and carried Israel away into Ass3nria, and placed thenk
in Halah, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of
the Medes. (2 Kitfgs* zviii. 11.) In turning from this account in the
Scriptures, to the sculpture on the ibck, the one seems clearly to ex*
plain the other. In the ro3ral figure, I see Salmaneser, the son of the
renowned Arbaces, followed by two appropriate leaders of the arades
of his two .dominions, Assyria and Media, carrying the spear and die
bow. Himself rests on the great royad weapon of the east, revered
finom earliest time as the badge T>f supreme power, Behold I do set my
bow m the ehud. Besides he tramples on a prostrate foe ; not one
that is slain^ but one who is a captive; this person not lying stretched
ont and motionless, but extending his arms in supplication. He must
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IfO GaBMBiLITY Alfl> AHTtQOIT'V OQf
fatfe betn a kkif, for oa Booe beknr that dignity woM Arhangltjr
fM>t of an casteni ■MMreh vondeseeBd to teeadi Thes wo aee ap*-
fioaeli nke eaptivei, boood* as k were, in dooUa bondiy in «gB of
ftdauUe oftnce. We Bny vadevrtaod dna' aeeiiaulaled tnaagieaaion
Ott'ieodlectiaf that on theinM imraeion of Isra^ by Ti|^<^pileaerr
he came4 away only^part of tbree tribea ; aad on ^ feeon^ by Sal^
nttoefer, be not eidy eoafirmed Ho^Ma on the throne, bvtaparad tfa<i
remaining people. Theiefore on tiiia detemimed rebdlion of king and
people, he pnniahea the ingratitade of both, by pntting both m Ae
noat abjeet bonds, and bringing away the whale of the len trihea intf
eaptivity ; or at leaat, the principal of Uie nation, in the aame mannert
prabaUy, ae was afterwards adopted by Nebudiadnezsar of Bal^rloiv
with regard to the inhabitanfti of Jodea: he earried.awayaU fimn
Jemsalein, and all the princes, and all the:nighty men of Talor, eren
ttn thooeand eiqptives ; and all the craftsmen vid smiths ; none re-
mained, save the poorefit sort of the people of the, land. (9 KingSr
zziv. 14.) Besides, it may bear on e«r argmnent, to rea&ark, thai
inchiding the ' prostrate ' meoatch, there arepreeisdy^-ten capttvea*
which might be regafded as the fepreaenlatiYes, or.;heads, of eaidL
tribe, beginning uridi the king, Vho, assnredly wonU.be considered as
the diief of his ; and ending wi^ the ajped^ figore^al the end, whoao'
high cap miy have been an ezaggemtad reprcscptation of die mitie
womby thesacerdp^tr^ofLevi: a jnstj pnnishmmt of the priestr
hood at that tiiM, which had debased itfdf by eveiy species of idohb-
tvons comp^anee with the whkns, or rather wickedneasaif die people^
m die adoption of Pagan woifship. Hence, ^ Having ^walked in
the statutes of the heathen, the Lord rej«Kstad Israel, and Jdivered
iktm into the hand of the.spoikrf." Donbdess, die figure widi the.
inscription on his garmenfti, from the singnkrity of the ifypendage,
must have been soom noted p^rsonagnin die history of the event; nad^
besides, it seems to designate a atrik^ng peeuliariQr of the Jewa, wha
were accustomed tp write remarkable aentences of old, in the (btm oC
phylacteries, on di£Eerrat parts of dxetr raiment What diose may
mean, which cover the garment of this figure, we have no means of
explaining, till the diligent researches of the learned ma^ be able to
decipher the arrow-headed character, and then a (till light would be
dirown on the whole history by expounding the tablets over every
head. If the aerial form above were ever intended to repreaent the
heavenly apparition of a depart^ king, which is the opinion of some*
diatof the great Arbaces might appear here with sferiking propriety,
at the final conquest of rebellious Israel Should the discoveries of
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THE QLO 'iWTAlCSNT BCmfTUWEB. 1ft
iHMi ]»wre my ooiifee«ara at aU right, thif basrrelief araat be aearif
two hundred yean older thaa.aBjr wUeh are asmbed te C3mie at Per-
8ep<dis or PasargtidiB."*
As we advance to' the Assyrian monarchy, the Scriptare accoonta
agree with the profane ones vectifiedv^nd when. we deseend still bwer
to the period of Naibonasser and the kings of Babylon and Persia,
who are posterior to this era, and are rec<»ded in Ptolemy's canon ,
or series of them, we find the agreement of sacred and profane history
mnch more exact, there being certain criteria in profane history for
fixing the fects related in it. 'And it is, remarkable, thki not only the
direct rdations of the historical books, but also the indirect mention of
things in the prophecies, correspond with the true chronology, which
is an unquestionable evidence of dieir genuin«iess and truth* The
history centred in the Old Testament is throughout distinct, methodi*
cal and consistentV while profane history is utterly deficient in th6
first ages, and full of fictions in the succeeding ages ; and becomes
dear and precise in 4he principal facts, anh/ about the period when the
(Nd Testament history ends : so that the latter corrects and regulates
the former, and renders it intelligible in many instances which must
odierwise'be 'giv^n up as utterly inexplicable. * "How then," says
llr. HomCr " can we suppose the Old Testament history not to be
genuine and true,' or a wicked imposture to be made, and not only to
continue undiscoverea,, but even to ii^srease to a most audacious
height in a nation, that of all others, kept the most exact accountB of
time!" ' ' . .
Infidels object to the credibility of the 014 Testament writings oa
account of the statements contained in them concerning the great fer-
tBtty of the land of Palestine. Qut these statements are confirmed by
the unanimous testimony of ancient ^vriters, as well as of most, if not all,
the travelers who have visited the country. And as Mr. Keith remarks :
** As the fruit of the land was of oM shown unto the Israelites, a similar
evidence may be adduced from the < gleanings of the grapes,*^ though
the vintage is done.!' " Galilee," says Malte Brun, " would be a
paradise, were its inhabitants an industrious people under an enlight*
ened government. Vine stocks are to be found here 9^ foot and a half
in diameter, forming, by their twining branches, vast arches and exten-
sive ceilings of veidu^. A duster of grapes, two or ^hreefeet in
lengthy w'H give an abundant supper to a whole family/^t And from
* Sir Robert Kerr PorterV Trayds in Gebipa, &&, toL iL pp. 164—163.
f Mahe Bnm*t Oeogi^y, ToL L p. 148.
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IM GREDIBILnT AND AMTK^JITY OF
the oppoflile tide of Palestme, Laboide gives vs &e foOowing exhibi*
tion of a few of the grapes of an mormmiM duster. •
Finally, the Jews themselves bear a forcible, testimony to this dajr,
in all countries of the world, tof the truth of their ancient history. If
that history be spurious, or in any considerable degree altered,, upoi|
what principle can their present state be accounted for? How is it
th&ti notwithstanding the many persecutions and oppressions, to
which, for long ages, and on account of their religion, d^ey have been
subjected, they still persist in their attachment to that religion, and to
those laws and predictions which condemn them T What could pro-
duce among them universally that sense of guilt and conviction that
they are under the malediction of the offended Peity, which is exhib-
ited in the following note, handed to the writer by a Jew, during the
discussion which led to the publication of this wdrk, and which was
called forth by an ai^rtion of Mr. Olmsted, that the Israelites who
left Egypt <;ould not have believed in the performance of the inirades
stated in die Mosaic writings, otherwise they would not have rebelled
against the govermipent of God, as they are represented to have ^ne :
** In an age of reason, with all the experience of the past before our
eyes, are we not now continually rebelling, and the subjects of divine
wrath r* ^Admit the truth of their history, and their condition, their
attachment to their religion, their laws and their prophecies, are easily
explained. Deny it, and they present, in every aspect in which they
can be viewed, an inexplicable mystery.
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THE OLB TB8TAMENT 8CBIPTURB8. 108
CHAPTER IV.
It must be evident to every candid reader who has carefully pemeed
the preceding pages of this work, that the truth of the sacred history,
tN> far As the great leading facts are concerned, is established by prooft
the most satisfactory and convincing. But the most strenuous efforts
of the adversaries of the Christian faith have been exerted to show
diat the books of the Old Testament, especially those ascribed to
Moses, were written at a period fiar later than that to which they are
commonly assigned, although they cannot agree among themselves as
to ^ period. Some assert that they were written by Ezra, afler the
Tetum from the Babylonish captivity ; and, according to them, Ezra
was ^le inventor of the ceremonial law, which, Mr. O. has asserted,
he forced upon them '* at the point of the bayonet" But nothing can
be more absurd than to suppose that the Israelites could have been
adnced, at any period of their history, to submit to the requisitions
of that law, unless they had been fully assured of the truth of those
flings which are recorded by Moses. We are not ignorant of the
feet, that to &is it is replied by the Infidel, In that history such a high
antiquity is ascribed to the Israelites as a nation, that their vanity in-
duced ^lem to receive it, although they were convinced it was felse,
even as heathen nations received the fables of their poets, on accoui|t
of &eir pride being flattered by the tracing up of their origin to the
gods. Those who urge this, forget that the Egyptians, the Babylo-
nians, the Assyrians, and the Canaanites were the bitter enemies of
{tie Israelites, and the objects of their aversion, and at the period
when Ezra is said to have palmed the Old Testament upon them.
Now this history gives to these nations a much higher antiquity than
it does to tiie Israelites, which, instead of flattering their vanity, was
cdcttlated to wound it, and so to prejudice their minds as to render
its reception by them impossible, unless they were convinced of
its truth.
There are also certain facts stated in that history, so mortifying to
their pride, that they could have received It only from a conviction of
their truth, and which never would have been stated by an author
writing a fable, and for the purpose of flattering their vanity. Their
progenitor, Jacob, is stated by deception to have supplanted Esau,
the progenitor of their enemies, the Edomites. While yet but a sin-
gle fiamily, in their eruelty to the Shechemites, and to one of their
R 25
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104 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUnT OP
-own brethren, they are represented as a nest of traitors and mni^
derers. While in Egypt, they are represented as a nation of abject
slaves; and every astonishing deliverance effected for them, seems
to rise np in a striking light, only to throw a darker shade upon the
national character and conduct. Is it reasonaMe to suppose that a
writer of fiction would give such a narrative as this T that in this way
he would attempt to touch the strings of the heatt T that he would try
to excite natioiial pride by giving it a mortal wound in almost every
fact he related T If such an one could succeed in palming a fiction
upon the Israelites, they must have been differently constituted from
all the other human beings that have ever lived upon the earth ; and
the necessary conclusion must be, either the Israelites were convinced
of the truth of their history as contained in the Scriptures, or when
they adopted them as true, at the same time knowing them to be
ialse, they must have been a nation of idiots.
The, books of the Old Testament bear such marks upon them as
clearly prove that one man could not have written them, nor any set
of men living at the same period of time. It is true, that the He-
brew language, in which the Old Testament was written, was the lan-
guage of an ancient people, who had little intercourse with their
neighbors ; and the language of these neighbors had great afiinity
with theirs, for ,this reason ; it would not change so rapidly as those
of the modems do, owing to the fact that different nations are various-
ly intermingled. Tet as no language continues altogether stationary,
it is evident that between the time Moses is represented to have lived,
and that of Malachi, some change^ must have taken place in the He-
brew language, and critical Hebrew scholars have proved that the
character and style of the language of the different books of the Old
Testament differ; which shows that the dififerent parts of it were
composed at different and distant periods, and by different persons.
Therefore if the Old Testament be a fiction, it is the production not
of one, but of many impostors, who lived in different ages of the
worid, and who by means incomprehensible by man, entered into a
conspiracy to impose upon posterity.
Whether true or false, the books of the Old Testament bear marks
of great antiquity. The Hebrew language, in which they are writ-
ten, ceased to be spoken as a living language, soon af^r the Babylo-
nish captivity. Now to suppose that the Old Testament was writ*
ten after it had become a dead language, is to suppose, if not an im-
possibility, at least that which would be exceedingly difficult to ac-
complish. Therefore, all the books contained in it, must be, at least.
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THE OLD TESTABfENT SCRIPTURES. 195
near 7 as ancient as the Babylonish captivity, and, as has been
shown, since they could not all have been written in the same age,
some must be considerably more ancient; which, upon the sopposi-
tion that the history contained in them is false, brings as back to a
succession of impostors.
That the book of Genesis is of great antiquity, and can by no pos-
sibility be the production of an impostor who lived subsequent to, or
even at the time of the Babylonish captivity, every candid reader
must see from the following iUustration, which is presented because
it can be appreciated by all. In Genesis xii. 10 — 16, there is the fol-
lowing narrative : *« And there was a famine in the land, (of Canaan)
and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was
grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he came near to en-
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196 CRBDIBIUTY AND ANTIQUITY OF
ter into E^pt, that he said nnto'Sarai his wife, Behold, now I know
that thou art a fair woman to look upon ; therefore it shall come to
pass when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his
wife ; and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I
pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with thee for my ,
sake ; and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass, '
that when Abram was come into Egypt, the Eg3rptians beheld the
woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh's house
saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was
taken into Pharaoh's house."
Now, when it is remembered, that for many ages, in all eastern
countries where polygamy obtains, and as a natural' consequence of
that practice, the women have veiled their faces in the manner repre-
sented on the preceding page, the rash Infidel, whose forte lies in ea-
gerly seizing upon passages which to us are necessarily obseure, on
account of our ignorance of the peculiar customs of those early times,
would urge that all the statements contained in the book of Genesis
must be false because the writer, in this instance, has betrayed his ig-
norance of the customs and peculiar dress of the Egyptians ; and he
would maintain that neither the common people nor the princes could
have formed any opinion concerning the beauty of Sarai, as her face
must have been covered by a thick veil ; and it is conceded, that had she
been veiled according to the present custom of the Egyptian women,
they could have made no discovery concerning her beauty.
The ancient paintings of the Egyptians have already been adverted
lo« and this supposed difficulty is removed, and the antiquity and ex-
actness of the Mosaic writings are confirmed by these monuments.
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THE OLD TESTAIIENT SCBHTUBEa 107
for on the opposite page is a representation of the manner in which an
Egyptian woman was dressed in the first ages shortly after the flood.
From this it appears that they exposed their feces, and thas the scrip-
tural narrative is shown to be agreeable to the manners and customs
at the date to which the narrative refers.
Could such a proof be brought in favor of the antiquity and minute
accuracy of any other book, it would be deemed conclusive ; and upon
every princijde of sound reason, it must be considered as a satirfac-
tory proof of the great antiquity of the book of Genesis ; especially
when it is remembered, as already stated, that among women the cus;
torn of veiling the face was, and must have been an accompaniment of
polygamy, which to some extent obtained, even during the lifetime
of Abraham, but which, as men became more corrupt, gradually in-
creased, until in the days of Solomon, princes had hundreds of wives
and concubines. And in his age, as a oonsequeiice of that practice,
the custom of exposing the female face, which universally obtained
during the ages imn^ediately after the flood, must have been s^lished
in all those countries where polygamy was practised. Here then we
have an exactness which could not . be found in the writings of an
impostor, who lived when polygamy had reached maturity.
The very great number of particulars, of time, place, persons, ^.,
mentioned in the Old Testament, when duly considered, independ-
ently of the agreement of these particulars with history, and with one
another, is a proof that its books cannot be the forgeries of a later age of
the world. A statement of the principal heads under which these par-
ticular circumstances may be classed, will enable the reader to appre-
ciate the force of this internal evidence. In the book of Qenesis^
there are mentioned the rivers of paradise ; the generations of the
antediluvian patriarchs ; the deluge, with the circumstances attending
it ; the place where the ark rested ; the names of the first patriarchs,
from whom all the nations of the earth are descended ; the building
of the tower of Babel ; the confusion of tongues ; the dispersion of
mankind ; the shortening of human life, after the deluge ; the sojoum-
ings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with many particulars concerning
the state of Canaan and its inhabitants, and the neighboring coun-
tries ; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ; the state of the land
of Edom, both before and after Esau's time ; the descent of Jacob
with his family into Egypt, with the exaltation of Joseph there ; and
the state of Egypt before the time of Moses.
In the book of Exodus there are mentioned the plagues of Egypt ;
die institution of the passover; the passage through the Red sea, with
r2
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10§ C?REDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY Or.
tbe .destruction of Pharaoh and hi« host there ; the miraeliB of man-
na; the victory over the Amalekites; the deUrerjof the law, with
all the solemnities which attended it; the worship of the golden calf,
and the very minate descriptions of the tabemade-priest's garments ;
the ark and its contents, iLo,
Leviticus contains a cdlection of ceremonial laws with all their
particularities, and an account of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu.
The book of Numbers contains the first and second numberings of
the several tribes with their genealogies ; the peculiar offices of the
three several famUies of the Levites ; many ceremonial laws ; the
joumeyings and encampments of the people in the wilderness during
forty years, with the relation of some remarkable events which hap-
pened during this period ; as the searching of the land, the rebellion ,
of Korah, the victories over Arad, Sihon, and Og, with the division
of the kingdoms of the two last among the Gadites, Reubenites, and
Manassites; all of which are described with the several particulari^
ties of time, place and persons.
The book of Deuteivnomy contains a recapitulation of many things
comprised in the three last books, with a second delivery of the law,
chiefly the moral one by Moses, upon the borders of Canaan, just
before his death.
In the book of Joshua, ther^ is recorded the passage over the Jor-
dan ; the conquest of the land of Canaan in detail, and the division of
it among the tribes, including a minute geographical description.
. The book of Judges recites a great variety of transactions of a pub-
lic nature^ In all, the names of times, places and persons, both
among the Israelites and the neighboring nations, are noted widi par-
ticularity and simplicity.
In the book of Ruth is a very particular account of ^e genealogy
of David, with several incidental circumstances.
The books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra ^d Nehemiah,
contain the transactions of the kings before the captivity, and govern-
ors afterwards, all delivered in the same circumstantial manner. And
here the particular account of the regulations, sacred and civil, estab-
lished by David ; the building of the temple of Solomon ; ^e gen-
ealogies given in the beginning of the first book of Chronicles, and
the list of the persons who returned, sealed, &c., afler the captiv-
ity, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, deserve especial notice in
the light in which we are now considering things.
The book of Esther contains a like account of a very remarkable
event, with the institution of a festival to commemorate it.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SdUPTUSES. IM
The book of Psabns men^ns many hktorical facts in an ineiden-
lal way; and this with the books of Job, Proveibs, Ecdesiastes and
Cantides, aliude to the manners and customs of ancient times, in va-
rious wajTS.
In the Prophecies there are some historical relations ; and in the
other parts the indirect mention of fects, times, places and persons, is
interwoven with the predictions in the most copious and circumstan-
tial manner.
Mr. Home, treating on this subject says, •* We do not find that for*
ged or Mse accounts of things superabound in particularities. There
is always some truth where there are considerable particularities re-
htedi and they always seem to bear some proportion to one another*
Thus, there is a great want of the- particulars of time, place and per-
unm in Manetho's account of the Egyptian d3ma8tie8 ; Ctesias' of
the Assyrian .kings, and those which the technical chronologers have
given to the ancient kingdoms of Greece; and agreeably thereto,
these accounts have much fiction and falsehood, with some truth ;
whereas Thucydides* history of the Pelbpennesian war, and Geasar's
of the war in Gaul, in both which the particulars of time, place and
persons are mentioned, are universally believed to be true to a great
degree of exactness.
Secondly ; a forger or a relator of falsehoods would b^ careful not
10 mention so great a number of particulars, since this would be to.
put intp his reader's hands, criteria whereby to detect jhim. Thus we
may see one reason of the fact mentioned in tl^ last paragraph, and
which, in oQufirming that fact, confirms the proposition here to be
Thirdly ; a foi^r or relator of falsehoods, could scarcely fiimish
such lists of particulars. It is easy to conceive how faithful records,
kept from tiuie to time by persons concerned in the transactions,
should contain such lists ; nay, it is natural to expect them in this
case, from the loc^ memory which takes strong possession of the
* fancy in those who have been present at transactions ; but it would be
a work of the highest invention, and greatest stretch of genius, to
raise from nothing, such numbers of particularities, as are almost eve-
ry where to be met with in the Scriptures.
Fourthly ; if we could suppose the persons who forged the books
of the Old and New Testaments, to have furnished their reader^ with
die great variety of particulars ^bove mentioned, the two reasons here
alleged against it, we cannot however, conceive but that the persons
of those times when the books were published, must, by the help of
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900 CREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUITr OF
these criteria have detected and exposed the forgeries or falsehoods*
For these criteria are so attested by allowed facts, as at this time and
this remote comer of the world, to establish the truth and genuine
ness of the Scriptures, as may appear even from this chapter, and
much more from the writings of commentators, sacred critics, and
other learned men, who have given the historical evidences for revealed
religion in detail, and, by parity of reason they would suffice even
now to detect the fraud, were there any ; whence we may conclude,
a fortiori, that they must have enabled the persons who were upon
the spot, when the books were published, to do this, and the impor-
tance of many of the particular records, as well as many of the pre-
cepts, observances and renunciations enjoined, would furnish them
with abundant motives for this purpose." *
But further, the five books of Moses contain a system of ceremo-
nial and moral laws, which, according to the testimony of history, as
has been already seen, were observed by the Israelites from the time
of their departure out of Egypt, till their dispersion at the taking of
Jerusalem. These laws, therefore, must have been as ancient as the
settlement of Palestine by the Israelites. It is conceded that matters
of private concern may easily be counterfeited; but it is different
with the constitution and laws of a country* Who has ever heard of
a forged code of laws being brought to light aAer a long interval and
palmed upon a nation as the work of their ancient legislators, which
they were bound to adopt as the rule of their civil and political insti-
tutioBs, especially if thereby a yoke was to be wreathed about their
necks which would be hard to bear? And was not such the nature of
the ceremonial law ? Many of the institutions, both of the ceremo-
nial and moral laws, were burdensome and hazardous to a nation,
unless secured by an extraordinary providence correspondent to them.
Their ritual was both burdensome and expensive. They were re-
quired to leave their ground untilled one year out of every seven.
Every fiftieth year they were commanded to give liberty to their
slaves and return mortgaged land to the original owners. All the
males were required three times a year^ at the stated festivals, to
repair to Jerusalem, leaving the country open to the invasion of the
inveterate enemies by whom they were surrounded. T^^at the Isra-
elites should often, in part, throw off such a yoke as this, and for a
time rebel against the divine authority of their law, although that
authority was sufficiently evidenced, is easily accounted for. But
* Home, voL L page 60.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCBIPTUHES. SOI
^hat Ezra, or any other person, could forge such a code of laws, and
wreathe around the necks of the Israelites so burdensome a yoke, is
an impossibility. Should any one of the most talented and popular
men of this Union, or any combination of them, write a book and
say in it, that this nation many centuries ago, were in a state of bond-
age in Canada ; that they had been miraculously brought through lake
Erie into this land ; that to commemorate what then transpired, three
great national feasts had been established, and that all the males of this
nation must henceforth, three times a year, repair to Washington to
keep these feasts, who amongst us would not laugh at the silly ab-
surdity of imagining that such a book, howeyer talented and popular
the authors, should be received by the nation, and cause us dl, now
for the first time, to believe that the miraculous escape had redly
transpired, and influence us all, from this time henceforth, three times ^
a year, to repair to Washington to keep these feasts? Therefore^
in order to believe the assertion of the Infidel, that Ezra, or any
other person, forged the law of Moses, and palmed it and its burden-
some ritual upon the Israelites, we must first suppose them to have
been a nation of simpletons ; that they were not the creatures of habit
as we are; and in a Word, that they were destitute of every feeling of
humanity which we have ; for he not only influenced them to submit
to that law, but he also persuaded them that they had committed a
great transgression of it, by intermarrying among the neighboring
nations ; ** and he commanded them to make confession unto the Lord
God of their fathers, and to do his pleasure ; and to separate them-
selves from the people of the land, and from the strangt wives.
Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As
thou hast said, so must we do." And it is said of those who were
guOty, **and they gave their hands .that &ey would put away their
wives ;" and it is further added, that ** some of them had wives by
whom they had children."* Therefore, it must be obvious to every
man of common sense, that Uie laws of Moses, and the books in which
they are contained, could not have been forged by Ezra or any of his
contemporaries, and palmed upon the Israelites as the work of an
ancient lawgiver, of whom and of his laws, they previously had no
knowledge.
Mr. Olmsted treating of this subject says, «< A* majority of our peo-
ple are fuUy persuaded that, in the time of the Judges and Kings, the
Bible, just as we now have it, was read to the Jews in their syna-
* E^ta, chap. X.
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203 CRBDiBarry and antiquity or
gogues every sabbath day. If they will reflect but a moment, they
will become convinced, that a great part of the Bible could not pos*
sibly have been written at that early period. They shonld alfto be
aware, ^at synagogues are not once mentioned in the Old Testament.
These small temples, in which the law was taught, were first erected
during the interval of five hundred years. The inner court of the
temple was the only place at which a Jew was permitted to worship^
Nehemiah, in his 8A chapter, says, that Ezra, and the other priests,
caused the people to understand the book, by reading it to them every
sabbath day. No such practice of teaching existed before the cap-
tivity. They were made to understand the law ; consequently, they
were ignorant of it before. They were also told, by Nehemiah and
Ezra, that the first day of the seventh month was holy unto the Lord,
and that they must not weep nor mourn. ** For all the people wept
when they heard the words of the law." From all this it appears
that these Jews, the whole body of them, knew nothing of one of their
gr&at feasts, until taught out of Ez]:a*s book. Nehemiah expressly
tells us, that the feast of tabernacles was wholly unknown to all these
Jews, and had not been kept from the time of Joshua. How did
Nehemiah know that it was kept in Joshua's day ?
If there had been a written history of the Jews, firom the time of
Moses till the restoration, such a history as Nehemiah intimates there
was, in which this feast and the reason of its institution were found ;
or if they had had the law of Moses as we now find it, it is impossi-
ble to believe that this feast would have been dbcontinued for a single
year; for the same reasons that induced-the Jews to hold this feast in
Nehemiah's time, would have been in continual operation. The con-
clusion is, that no such history or law had existed among the Jews.
This feast must have been instituted /Aen, viz. in the days of Nehe-
miah. How could he have known, I repeat, that this feast of ts^r-
nacles was held in Joshua's time? He must have learned it either
from a written history, or tradition. . If there were either, then, as
before argued, this feasticould not have b^en discontinued for k single
year. The same argument applies to the assertion of the author, or
authors, of Kings and Chronicles, that 9uch a passover as Josiah's
had not been held since the days of the Judges. Truth cannot exist
amidst such confusion.
It is fair to presume that, if Nehemiah had given us. an aeeount of
the assembling of the people on the fourteenth day of the first month,
he would have told us, that he and Ezra informed the chiefs of the
fathers, the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, by reading
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBEa %0^
from the Itw, that that day was the feast of the pasiover ; for there is
no more reason why they should have forgotten one than the other.
Both are fonnd in the same chapter in the Pentatench, and are said to
hare been instituted at the same time by Moses. Here is another
strong argument that the feast of the passover was not uninterrupted.
Bat I ask, if it be not wonderful, and past belief, that all the Jews,
except Ezra and Nehemiah, should have totally forgotten any one of
their great feasts during the seventy years' captivity ? Jeremiah, it is
iaid, was corresponding with them : Daniel was with them daring
the whole term ; for, it is ^d, he lived till the restoration. Many
old men returned who had seen the first temple. Can it be believed^
that all these fathers had forgotten their great feasts ? If the people
of these United States were to be taken captive over the Rocky
Mountains, and kept there for seventy years, would those who were
but little boys when taken, forgist the fourUi of July, or what is called
Sunday T No one can believe it for a mometit. The case supposed
is in point That a lone individual might, if takeii when a child, and
not suffered to hold any communication with any other individual of
his nation, forget its institutions, I think, is very probable ; but that a
whole people, who were suffered to hold, and did hold communication
with each other after their captivity, m^ny of whom became digni-
taries in the greatest empire of the globe, and one of their females an
empress— the capital of which empire was not more than one or two
hundred miles from their own-r-«hould all but two forget their great
feasts in the course of seventy years, is beyond belief."
From the narrative it appears, that after the Jews had returned
from the captivity of Babylon, and had made the necessary preparations^
they returned to the observance of the ceremonial law. And, on the
first day of the seventh month, whicli was the first day of the civil
year, and on which was the feast of trumpets, they were assembled
together to keep this feast^ and to hear the law expounded — as re*
quired by the law itself; and wcJ are informed that Ezra the scribe, or
Kq)mmder of the ktw, stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had
made for the purpose ; and he opened the book in the sight of all the peo>
pie, (for he was above all the people,) and when he opened it all the peo-
ple stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God; and all the
people answered. Amen ! amen ! with lifting up their hands, and they
bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the
groond.* « Is it not very remarkable, that such a vast assembly should
Ndumith, chap, yr
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manifest so much reverence for a law, of the existence of which thef
had no knowledge, as simultaneously to arise, the moment the book
containing it was opened in their presence ? And is it not passing
strange, that they all shonld perform so solemn an act of worship to
that God^ who now for the first time, they were informed, was the aa«
thor of that law ? All the circumstances of the case prove, that the
great body of them must have known that such a law was in existence^
and that Jehovah was its author. But, that many of them were igno>
rant of some of the particular requisitions of it, is highly probable. Nor
is this to be wondered at i seeing, that for the space of seventy years^
they had been in captivity, and must have generally lost the know-
ledge of the Hebrew language, in which the law was written.
In the narrative, we are further informed, that after Eira had
opened the book, and blessed the people; thirteen others, whose
names ate given, and the licvites, dso, coomienoed instructing the
people out of the book of the law; for, it is said, <«they read in the
book of the law of God distincdy, and gave ,the sense, and caused
them to understand the reading." The assembly must haxe been
very large, and the persons thus employed must have placed them*
selv^ in differient places ^among the vast crowd, so that all might have
an opportunity of being instnicted. As they are all represented not
only as giving the sense, but, as reading in the book of the law ; there-
fore there must haive been many copies present on that occasion, out
of which they were tayght, and not out of Ezra's book only, as
Mr. Olmsted intimates. Dr. Clarke, in his notes on the passage,
says, ** they analyzed, dilated, «nd expounded at large, showing the
import and general meaning of every word ;" and »< showed its value
and utility, and how intimately concerned they were, in all that was
revealed." The result of these teachings was, that the assembly were
affected, even to weeping. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites, who
taught the peoj^, said unto them, <*this day is holy unto the Lord
your God, mourn not, nor weep." From this circumstance, Mr.
Olmsted infers, ** that these Jews, the whole body of them, knew
nothing of one of their great feasts^ until taught out of Ezra's book."
But were they not assembled for th^ express purpose of keeping thsA
feast, although many of them might be ignorant of the fact, that
mourning and weeping were inadmissible on such an occasion ; yet
their very assembling together, is a clear evidence that they could not
but have known that such a feast was enjoined in the law of Moses ;
for who ever before heard of so great an assembly being colleoled
together, and acting as they are represented to have done, without
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THE OLD TEgTAMEN T 8CBIFTURE8. Z^
haying any knowledge of the purpose for whieh thej were thas con-
gregated T Moreover, it is utterly impossible, that the whole body of
them were ignorant of the existence of that feast, at least the scribea
and Ae Levites, who read in the book of tJie law^ and instmcted the
people, must have possessed a knowledge of the existence of the
law. They must have, previously, carefully studied it; for* on the
occasion in question, they had to translate it from the ancient Hebrew
into the Chaldee dialect; that so it might be understood by the people*
If the scribes and Levites possessed copies, of the law, and made thai
law their study, as they must have done, the natural inference is, &at
the people at large must have had a general knowledge of the law;
althou^, owing to their captivity, they might have been ignorant of
•many of the minor particulars of it. Mr. Olmsted, however, asserts^
that **' Nehemiah expressly tells us that the feast of tabemacle§ woi
wholly unknown to all these Jews.*^ Let the reader turn^ to the eighth
chapter of Nehemiah and search, but he will search in vain for any
such assertion. That cause is certainly a worthless one, which has
to be sustained by reckless assertion, to give it no harsher name. Are
we to be told that the following passage contains that assertion?
"And they found written in the law, which the Lord commanded by
Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast
ef the seventh month." With ihe same truth, when the statement i$
made to us, that the fourth day of July is a day of public rejoicing, in
commemoration of the declaration of the independence of the United
States, it may be maintained this is an assertion* that previously we
were ignorant of any such day of public rejoicing. The passage con-
tains no assertion concerning the knowledge or ignorance of the Jews
upon any subject ; but it infonns us of what was found written in the
book of thC'law, and this passage was their authority for keeping this
feast
In the narrative, it is stated that ** All the congregation of them
that were come again out of the captivity, made booths, and sat under
the booths ; for since the day^ of Joshua, the son of Nun, unto that
day had not the children of Israel done so, and there was very great
gladness." This passage Mr. Olmsted construes into anpther assert
tion of Nehemiah, viz. that this feast had not been kept from the
time of Joshua. A proper attention to the import of the passage, and
a little candor mi^ht have convinced Mr. 0. that it does not imply that
ao feast of tabernacles had been kept from the days of Joshua ; but,
that from his days none had been so heartily and piously celebrated*
On this occasion, it was kept by all ihe congregation of Israel ; there
S
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§0i CBEDIBILTY AXD ANTIQUnT OF
were no absentees ; bat all, without exception, heartily celebrated tki$
feast Mr. Olmstedt however, will fasten «pon Ezra the autlMnriUp
of the previous history of the Jews, aftd Ihe invention of the law ;
and he maintains, ** that no such history or law existed among tht
Jews" previous to his time. But Ezra, himself, bears testimony
against him : for he informs ns that at the time of the dedication of
^e temple, in the sixth year of Darius, the poests and Levites were
settled in their different functions, ** as it is written in the book of
Moses,*^* Now, this could not have been done, had there been no
written copies of the law among the Jews ; and this was about sixty
years before Ezra came to Jerusalem. Ezrat therefore, could not
have been the autlior of the law ; neither could he have cormpted it ;
for we are informed, that many of the old men who had seen the first
temple wept whea they saw the second ; and had he made any ma-
terial alterations in it, they would most certainly have detected them.
Besides, the enemies of the Jews, the Samaritans, received the five
books of Moses ; and those of them, who still reside in Palestine,
profess to possess the identical copy written by Moses. On this
account they sought to join themselves with the Jews in building the
temple ; for Ezra informs us that " they came to Zerubbabet and to
the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you,
for we seek your God as you do ; and we do sacrifice unto him since
the days of Esar-hadden, king of Assur, who- brought us up hither.**t
80 inveterate was the enmity of that people, that they took every
advantage against those who returned from the captivity, and they
used f very means to prevent the re-establishment of their religion.
Therefore, had there been the least reason to suppose that Ezra had
corrupted, not to say fabricated, the law, they would have been cer-
tain to have seized upon this as a ground of crimination.
As, already stated, many of the Jews, by the requisiiions of the
laW| were compelled to put away their wives, and some of them the
mothers of their children, and had Ezra corrupted the law, it is not
to be supposed diat those, who were put to so severe a trial, could
have beeh induced to have kept silence ; but Uiey, as well as the Sa-
maritans, would most certainly have complained to the king of Per-
sia, who would have called Ezra, and the others who might have been
implicated,. to an account for their conduct. That the law could not
have been invented by Ezra is also evident from the fact that, even
the heathens, themselves, knew of its existence ; for Artaxerxes, in
• Esra, ri. 16—18. f Ibid. if. 7.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 207
the decree which he made in favor of Ezra, says, *< Artaxerxes, king
of kings, unto Ezra, the priest, a scribe of the lav of the God of
heaven, perfect peace ; and at snch a time, I make a decree, that all
they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and scribes, im my
realm, which are minded of thtir own free will to go up to Jeru8»*>
lem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of
his seven counselloiv, to enq^uire concerning Judah and Jerusalem,
according to the law of thy Gocf, which is in thy hand.*'*
Mr. Olmsted infers, that not one of the Jews knew any thing of
the great feasts appointed by the Levitical law; and expressesf \M
wonder, that even Daniel should be ignorant of diese feasts, provided
SDch a law existed in his day. That Daniel could not have been ig-
norant of the feasts in question, and that the law did exist in his day,
and was firmly believed , by him to have been the law of Moses, we
have the most satisfactory evidence, even the testimony of Daniel
himself; for he incidentally mentions it in his solemn prayer and sup-
plication : ** Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by de-
parting, that they might not obey Uiy voice; therefore the curse is
poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses •
the servant of God, because we have sinned ag^nst- him. And he
hath confirmed his words which he spake against us, and against our
Judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil : for under
the whole heaven hath not been 9s hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in th$ law of Moaea, all this evil is come upon ns." t
Daniel, therefore, not only knew that such a law existed, but it is ev-
ident, that he was intimately acquainted with all the writings of Mo-
ses; for he here refers not only to the law, but the predictions of the
great lawgiver. This mention of the law by Daniel is incidental,
and, for that very reason, it is an irresistable evidence of its existence,
Aad Mr. Olmsted is evidendy altogether mistaken, when he suppos*
es, ** that a whole people who were si^ffered to hdd, and did hold
eommunications with each other after their captivity, many of whom
became dignitaries in the greatest empire of the globe, and one of
tiieir females an empress — with the exception of Nehemiah and Ez-
ra— had, in the space of seventy yeart, forgotten their great feasts :"
and, from which he infers, that no such law could have existed.
The law could not have been fabricated by Daniel, nor by any of
the captives during their residence in Chaldea ; for Daniel refers to
die book of the prophecies of Jeremiah, as in the hands of the cap-
■ ■ I ■ ' ^ — - — 1
• Bira vil la— 14. f ^'^"^l ^' 11—13.
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208 • CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQniTY OP
tives in Babylon, and as the source of his own information, with re-
spect to the duration of the captivity. Now, it is evident, from the
whole tenor of these prophecies, the greatest part of which were written
before the commencement of the captivity, that the law of Moses was
acknowledged, even by those who most flagrantly transgressed it, as
existing at the time that Jeremiah foretold the desolations of Jemsa«
lem. For he frequendy declared, that the calamities threatened,
would come upon them, because of their transgressions of the law.
He made this appeal to the law, as confirmed to their fathers by many
signs and wonders. This he did, not in a comer, but at the gates of
Jerusalem, that his warnings might be heard by all who entered the
city, or went out from it; by the kings, princes, and people who
came hither for judgment.* Had he appealed to a' law which they
had never seen, those whose measures he opposed could have been
$tt no loss for s^ reply. His warnings, it would appear, were, in
one instance, attended with so good an effect, that king Zedekiah
commanded the liberation of the Hebrew servants which the law
enjoined. To this, both the princes and the people, at first, unan-
imously agreed ; which they never would have done if they had not
believed that the law, which bound, them so to do, was of divine an
, &ority. When, through covetousness, they afterwards reclaimed
their bond servants, though Jeremiah accused them of a wOful trans-
gression of the covenant made with their fathers, there is not the
slightest evidence that they attempted to vindicate their conduct by a
denial of his assertion ; nay, although the whole prophecies of Jer-
emiah were read to all the people assembled at Jerusalem, on a day
of public fasting, and afterwards to the princes ; but, on the contrary,
all were filled with fear. So that there is not a shadow of evidence
to support Mr. Olmsted's assertion, that the law was invented, and
the historic books forged by Ezra, after the return from the Babylon^
ish captivity.
From the account given of the finding of the book of the law in the
temple, when it was repaired during the reign of Josiah, some have
inferred that this was the period when the Mosaic writings were
forged and the law invented, and, through the authority of the king,
imposed upon the people. But the very denunciations of awful judg-
ments, which, in the book, are represented as impending over the
nation, were, of themselves, sufficient to prevent the people from re-
ceiving the imposture. Besides, at that time, the majority of them
* Jeramiah xfM. 10—32; xxziL 90—98.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCBIPTUREa M9
were wannly attached to idolatry, which had been firmly established
during the wicked reign of Manasseh; and this was sufficient to
influence them to prevent any innovation, had there been the smallest
reason to suspect imposition.
It is utterly impossible that a state triek couM have be^n practised
by Josiah ; for all the priests of Baal, end of the high places, who
were put down by Josiah, would have resisted such an attempt, and
exposed the imposture : and could they have so much as insinuated,
that the book of the law was an imposition, they could have easily
formed a strong party among the people^ But of this, we have not
the smallest intimation. So far from this having been done, 'although
the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord
at Jerusalem,* yet we are told, that Josiah made all that were present
in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God ; and that all his
days, they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their
fiithers.t
Is it argued th^ previous to the finding of the book of the law,
neither Josiah, nor any of the people, had a knowledge of the law of
Moses ? But where were the priests and Levites ? They must have
known of the existence of that law; for, during the prevalence of
idolatry, in the reigns of the wicked kings who immediately preceded
Josiah, being unable to bear the profanation of the temple, they had
taken the ark of the covenant, and carried it from place to place, to
preserve it from the hands of these impious princes. 'But Josiah
commanded them to bring it back : ** And said unto the Levites, that
taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in
the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel did build :
it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders : serve now the Lord
your God, and his people Israel."} Besides, let those who urge the
finding of the book of the law in the temple, as an argument against
its greater antiquity, remettiber that oii the same authority on which
they believe this, they are also bound to believe that the book of the
law was well known throughout Judah, in Uie reign of Jehosaphat,
nearly three centuries before ; for, *< in the third year of his reign,
he sent to his princes, even to Ben-haQ, and to Obadiah, and to
Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities
of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Ne«
ihaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehona-
^n, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, Levites; and
* 2 Klogs, zxiL 9. j- 2 Chron. xxziv. 8. ^2 Chitm. zxxr. 8.
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310 CRBWBILITY AND AUnQUITT OF
with Aem Eli-shanm, and Jeboram, priests. And they taught m
Jndah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them^ and
went about throughout all th6 cities of Judah, and taught the peo-
ple."* This important fact, it appears, was so well known, that not
only in the. year of the reign in which it took place, but the orders
and names of the missionaries employed, are particulariy recorded in
the Jewish annals.
A forgery of the books could not have been effected any time after
the revolt of the ten tribes ; for the perpettial enmity which existed
between diem and the Jews, would have influenced the) former to
expose the fraud; and nothing would have tended more direedy to
countenance and support their apostasy, than such a charge. But it
is an unquestionable fact, that the books of Moses,' which are still
found in the Samaritan language, were in the hands of the ten tribes
at the time of their revolt. The books existed during the reign of
Solomon: for he regulated the whole of the temple service according
to the law contained in the books of Moses^ and it is not to be
supposed that they were forged by him. For a consider^le time,
and in many respects, he apostatized from the service of God ; ther^
fore, he would not attempt to impose on others a fictitious law, with
which he did not himself comply. And had he made the attempt, it
must have proved a failure ; Jereboam the son of Nebat, would have
urged the forgery as the cause of his rebellion, or, at any rate, for his
establishment of false worship in Israel. But the very circumstances
attending Jeroboam's apostasy from the worship of God, contain a
strong confirmation of the truth of the history contained in the books
of Moses. <* Jemboam said in his heart. Now shall the kingdom
return to. the house of David ; if this people go up to do sacrifice in
the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people
turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Jndah.'*t
Now, had Solomon forged the books of Moses, these would not have
been his cogitations ; but he would have impeached tlie memory of
Solomon. But this he knew could not succeed with even the revolted
tribes, because it was too gross to be believed by them. Therefore he
utters not a word against the law of Moses. He even acknotriedges
that Jerusalem was the place chosen by God fpr his worship. He
argues only from oonveniency, and he devises means to attract the
senses of a carnal people. « The king took comisel, and made two
calves of gold« and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to
* 3 Chron. xriL 7—9. f , 1 Kingt, xiL 26, S7.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 311
Jenisileoi : behold thy gods, O IsraeU which brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt And he set the one m Bethel, and the other put
he in Dan."^ This man, though an enemy to the Jewish religion,
acknowledges the troth of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by a
divine hand* He addressed the people, as one fiilly covinced, not
only that they believed the miraeolous works recorded in the writings
of Moses, but as though he himseU* believed they were incontestibly
tiiie. And his object was not to detach them altogether from the
worship of Jehovah, bntto cause them to worship him by the use of
those images. He does not attack the authority of Moses, but he
imitates the temporary apostasy of Aaron. He erects the very em-
blem which Aaron framed in the wilderness,' and thus confirms die
scriptural account of that matter. He seems to have acted under a firm
belief of the truth of the history of that apostasy, for he takes advan-
tage of the hankering after the abominations of Egypt, which the
Israeliles appear still to have felt, and thus he entraps them in their
ancient snare. When he had set up his two idols, he uses the very
words of Aaron, as thoUgh he had been quoting from the sacred
records; "These be thy gods of Israel,* whicbl brought thee up out
of the land of Egypt''
The books of Moses existed in David's reign, for he regulated die
tabernacle service and worship by the law contained in them, and his
psabns abound with allusions to their contents. But they could not
have been forged by him, as they contained many commandments
which David violated. Besides, had he forged them, Jeroboam could
not but have been apprised of the fact, and he would certainly
have exposed the imposture. The truth is, the reign of David
was too unsettled, and he had too many enemies to make any such
attempt Some Saul, some Shimei, or some Absalom would have
discovered and proclaimed the fraud. The law existed during the
reign of Saul, the favorite of the Infidel, because the enemy of David ;
for Samuel, in the instructions given to the king, in the name of
Jehovah, referred to the history of Amalek, as recorded in the books
of Moses.t It will not be supposed that he was guilty of this forgery.
But his. conduct on his return from the war. with the Amalekites
shows, that he had no suspicion that it was forged by any one.
When Samuel declared to him, in the presence of his army, that God
had rejected him, on account of his disobedience to the law, had
•lKmgs,ziL28,29.
j- 1 Samuel, zr. 2. Cotfip«re with Ezod. xrii. d— H ; Beut zzr. 17—19.
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312 CRBDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OF
he the smallest suspicion that the books of Moses were forged,
his answer was at hand ; he had only to declare that the whole was
an imposture. Were there the smallest ground for the charge, the
people who had been accessory to his guilt, and who, according
to his account were his instigators, would most certainly have sup-
ported him. But he makes no reflection on the diyine authority of
the law. So far from this, his language is, « I haye sinned, for I
have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words ;
because I feared the people and obeyed their voice."'
The books of the law could not have been forged during the regen*
cy of the Judges who preceded Samuel. During that period, Israel
was far more ready to depart from the worship of Jbhovah, than to
bind themselves to it by new ties. By their apostasies, they were
continually subjecting themselves to the yoke of their enemies. In
these circumstances, it is not to be supposed, that they would have
received supposititious books, every page of which condemned their
cQnduct, and denounced against them that very vengeance which they
felt.
The law existed in Joshua's time, for it *is mentioned by him :
^* Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount
Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, conunanded the children of
Israel, as it U loritien in the book of the law of MosesJ**^ Again,
in Joshua it is said : <* Be strong «nd of a good courage : for unto
this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware
unto their facers to give them. Only be thou strong and very cour-
ageous, that thou may est observe io do according to all the law which
Mo8e$f my servant, commanded thee: turn not fjrom it to the right
hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou
goest. Tins book of the law will not depart out of thy mouth, but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to
do according to all that is written therein.*':^
It is also, in the same book, said : " Be ye therefore very cour-
i^eous, to keep and to do all that is written in the b6ok of the law of
Moses.^^
If the forgery of the books was committed by Joshua; or al-
though not altogether destitute* of truth, was the history of the events
recorded Itighiy exaggerated, their falsehood must have been well
known in the days of David and Solomon, for Jesse, the father
of Dafiid, iwas only the great grandson of Salmon, ohe of those who.
*t 8tmael,XT.34. fJodLriiLSO— 81. #niid.i.6— 8.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBEB. aif
according to &eir records, witnetsed the wonders done in the wilder*
Bess at Jordan, and in Canaan : he married Rahab, who was saved
at die desthiction of Jericho.
It is possible that an individual, through ignorance, w^dmess, or
credulity, may believe concerning his great grandfather, what never
transpired* But that a whole nation should be brought to believe,
not a single fact of a most extraordinary character, but a series ef
such facts, said to have happened only four generations before, if the
whde were a fiction, ia in itself a supposition far transcending the
bounds of credulity.
No imposture could have been practised upon the IshieHtes durii^f
the sojourn in the wilderness. In the sacred recoi^ds the whole nation,
almost an infinite multitude, are represented as witnessing the miracles
wrought preceding the deliverance from Egypt; and parttcularly the
final miracle that aehieved their deliverance, in memory of which the
passover was instituted, with the strongest injunctions to acquaint
their children with the cause of that observance, and to tnark thai
night throughout all their generations. The whole people are
represented as witnessing the passage of the Red sea, and it is stated
that they sang a hymn which Moses composed on that occasion, and
which was to be preserved for the use of their children. . The whole
people are represented as witnessing the dreadful promulgation of the
law from Sinai, with which they were also to acquaint their children;
and the feast of pentecost was annually to be observed on the day in
which the law was given. The very tables on which the ten com*
raandmenis were Mrritten were deposited in the ark, and ifemained
there until at least the building of/ Solomon's temple, most probably
nntil its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. The people are represented
as witnessing the many miracles \vrought during the space of forty
years in the wilderness— the pillar of fire and cloud, the manna, the
quails, iic. A sample of the manna remained to future generations,
and they were directed to relate what they saw to their children.
They are represented as witnessing the framing and building of the
aril and the tabernacle, and they are all said to have contributed to it.
They are r^resented as having seen the cloud fill and rest upon it,
and to have assisted at the services performed there ; to cObimemo-
rate which, as well as their joumeyings in the wilderness, the annual
feast of tabernacles was appointed, which for suceeeding years they
used to explain to their children.
It is true, that the religion which Moses called the Israelites to em^
hneSf was not absolutely new to them ; because their fath^ had
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S14 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
worshiped the same being, who was now announced as the God of
the nation $ but the most of them must, in a great measure, have for-
gotten him during their sojourn in Egypt ; and they must have been
tinctured with the idolatries of the people among whom they had so
long lived, and whose servants they had been. Therefore, especially,
if they are judged by their conduct, the great majority of them were
no better than heathens ; consequendy, the change they were require
ed to make, was almost as great as though Moses had undertaken
to convert the Egyptians themselves. The greatness of the change
is manifest, from an examination of the religion they were required
Id embrace. They were required to renounce the gods of Egypt,
and aH the gods of the nations around them, and to worship Jehovah
alone. Jehovah and the people are represented as having entered
into a solemn covenant, by which the people became bound to pre-
serve and observe the law, and all that was contained in it ; and Jeho-
vah became bound to be the God of the Isiaelites, to protect and to
prosper them.
The particulars of this covenant on the )part of Jehovah were, to
give the people the land of Canaan, to preserve and to protect them
in it, to give them* victory ovei- his and their enemies, to prosper them
in all their labors, to give them the increase of their fields and flocks,
and to make them a great, happy, and flourishing people ; but on conr
dition that they kept and obeyed hie law.
The particulars on the part of the people were, to serve Jehovah,
and no other Ood, and that in the way described in the laWf to pre-
serve, observe, and obey the law carefully and exacdy ; and if they
failed or transgressed, to submit to its severe penalties, which, in
many instances, to individuals transgressing, was death ; and to the
nation at large, destruction, captivity, dispersion, blindness, mad-
ness, &^,, besides the forfeiture of aU the good promises,
The law, by the command of Gk>d, was to be put in writing, as
well as all the directions for making ^e ark, the cherubim, the taber-
nacle, the priests* garments, &e., and all the rules of government, ju-
dicature, &C., with every other circumstance revealed, for directing
the faith and conduct of the nation. The law was to be preserved in
Hie most careful manner. The priests, who were to judge in ques*
tiens relating to it, were to be well versed in it. The nder was to
write out a copy of it for himself and to peruse it continually.
The people were to write out passages of it, and to wear them, by
way of signs, upon their hands, and frondets between their eyes,
and to write them on the posts of their doors, ^. They were also
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 216
to teach their children the most notable parts of it; and partiQularly*
to instract them in the miracles attending the deliverance from Egypt,
as they sat in their house, as they walked by the way, as they lay
down, and as they rose up.
Their system of observances, instead of being moulded after the
idolatrous forms to which, in Egypt, they had been accustomed, was
contrived in express opposition to the Egyptian usages, and those of
all the other nations around them, and it was calculated to effect a
cotkiplete separation, and to distinguish them from all other people and
nations. The rites enjoined were multiplied to a great number, and
were to be practised, not only in the sanctuary, but in the whole de-
tail of life. These required constant attention and circumspection,
and must havle been felt to be extremely inconvenient And, as al-
ready observed, while their ritual subjected them to great expense,
tiiere were also pertain injunctions, altogether different from any thing
that ever obtained among any other nation^ and which were so pecu-
liar in their character, that, tipon the principles of political toisdomf
it is altogether unaccountable how any legislator should have propos-
ed them, or any people should have submitted to them.
Is it possible, that any legislator of a sound mind, would have
dared to propose such enactments upon his own authority, or that any
nation whatever would have acquiesced in them T The' texture of die
whole law is such, that we cannot conceive it possible for it to have
been the contrivance of an imposter; nor for the Israelites, if left to
themselves, to have adopted it. Upon the supposition that the law
was a human invention, how did the Israelites come to adopt it! Did
its inventor refer to the astonishing and miraculous events already
stated, as evidence of the truth of his assertions; when at the same
lime the people knew these events never transpired? This would
have exposed him to the contempt of the whole nation, and would
have secured the rejection of his law. He who believes that any
man induced the Israelites to adopt this law, merely by stating that it
was the will of God they should do it, and confirmed the divine au-
thority of the injunction by referring them to miracles wliich they
knew had never been performed, must himself be as void of common
sense as he supposes them to have been. Would not this have been
the reply of every Israelite T It is very plain to me that you cannot
be the minister of Jehovah ; for as an evidence of the authority of
yonr mission, you say I heard his voice, which I know I never did.
You speak of a certain cloud filling and resting upon the tabernacle.
I never witnessed such a scene ; neidietr I nor any of the people wit-
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216 cREDiBHiirr and antiquity of
nessed what yoa described as haring tranapired at Mount Shia.
And as to those stupendous miracles, by which you say Jehovah at-
tested your mission, I now hear of them for the first time. Thus, it
must be manifest to every candid mind, that it was impossible for a
fraud to have been practised upon the Israelites during their sojourn
in the wilderness. But the reception of the law is a proof that this
people were satisfied it emanated from the God of their fathers;
and consequently is a proof that they witnessed the miracles ia
Sgypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness.
The preceding chain of evidence must be considered decisive, that
the Pentateuch was written in the age in which Moses lived; and
firom the books themselves, it appears that they were written by him.
For after he had ** told the people all the words of the Lord, and off
tiie judgments, he " took the book of the covenant and read in the
audience of the people ; and they said, all the Lord hath said will we
do and be, obedient."* When he thus wrote the book of tha cove-
nant, he did according to the express command of Gk>d. <* The Lord
•aid unto Moses : write then these words : for after the tenor of these
words, I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." He also
wrote the account of the discomfiture of Amalek ; for after the his-
tory of this event, it is declared, &at the Lord said unto Mdses,
*« Write this for a tnemorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of
Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from
under heaven."t It is by no means probable that Moses wrote the
history of this war, and yet used no means for recording other trans-
actions of no less importance ; or, that he should be expressly com-
manded to write this account, and receive no such command in other
instances, although it might not seem necessary to mention the cii^
cumstance on every occasion. The very narrative of this writing
bears internal evidence, that it was written in connexion with the pre-
ceding part of Exodus. Joshua, Aaron, and Hur are here introduced
without a single hint with respect to the offices or stations of these
persons. This supposes that, in the apprehension of the writer, they
were well known to the reader, having been particularly described in
the preceding part of the book. " The rod of God " is also mentioned
without any reason being assigned for the designation, which it is not
probable Moses would have done, had he not already given a particu-
lar account of it.
He also wrote the joumeyings of the Israelites **by the command
* Exodus, xxiv. 3, 4. 7. Ibid. xriL 14.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTUBE8. 317
ef the Lord.''* AAer this statement there immediately follows m
eompendioas view of these. But it is unnatural to suppose that no-
thing more is meant, than that he wrote this summary* These jour-
neyings had already been particularly described, in connexion with
the rest of their history, in the book of Exodus and in the preceding
part of the book of Numbers. Thus, when it is said, " Moses wrote
^ir goings out," according to their journeys, it seems most natural
to conclude, that he speaks of what he had already done ; and that ha
afterwards proceeds to give a short itinerary, compiled from the larger
account already written, and blended with the rest of the history.
The propriety of this abstract being given here, appears from the con-
sideration that their journeys in the wilderness were now terminated;
they were encamped in the plain of Jordan, and had only to cross this
river, to obtain possession of the promised laud.
In Deuteronomy it is said, ** Moses wrote th^ lawy and delivered
it to the priests, the sons of Levi, and unto all the elders of Israel.
And Moses commanded them, saying : ** At the end of every seven
years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of taber-
nacles, when all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy Ood,
in the place which he shall choode, thou shalt read this law before
all Israel in their hearing. And it came to pass, when Moses had
made an end of writing the words of this law in a .book, until they
were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the
ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying : Take this book of the law,
and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. ^ Gather unto
me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak
these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record
against them. And Moses spake in iiie ears of all the congregation
of Israel the words t>f this song, until they were ended."t
It appears frotn this passage, that the term Iow^m used in the Pen-
tateuch, is not confined to the precepts, statutes and judgments given
to the Israelites, bbt that it includes other things, delivered by the
iqinistry of Moses for their instruction ; for there can be no doubt
that the prophetical song referred to, was added by Moses himself to
what was formerly written in that book, which was to be laid up be*
fide the ark. He had already written the preceding part of the book,
wad delivered it to the priests. Afterwards he received a command
firom God to write this, song, which he immediately obeyed : for it is
*Niimben,zz2iU3. fDeiiLbczxL 9— U; 34—30. Ibid.xzzil9.
T 28
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218 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OF
faid: ^'Moaes, therefore, wrote tfaifl song the sftme day/' It ap-
pears that he demanded the book of the law from the priests, and
wrote it therein. This is not implied in what is afterwards said of
his *' making an end of writing the words of this law in a book,"
dthongh it had already been declared, that he " wrote this law ;*' but
when it followed,. that he *< commanded the elders to be ga(hered«
that he might speak these words in their ears," it nndonbtedly n-
spiects ^^theie wordi^* which he had newly written in the book of
the law, afterwards expressly designated, " the words of tkU iongJ*
Thcire is every reason to belioTe that ** the book of the law," in
which Moses wrote his song, was the very same with that in which
he had formeriy wrote the history of Israel's victory over Amelek ;
for this was written not merely for present use, but for a memorial
in succeeding generations. Now, as there was only one book com*
mitted to the care of the priests and elders — only one book laid up
beside the ark ; we must suppose, either that *< Moses disobeyed God
in using no means of preserving this history, and making it a memo-
rial, or that it was included in the same book which contained the
law, strictly so called, his song, and whatever else he wrote. As he
also wrote the journeys of the children of Israel, the sdme care was
not exercised about thi$ writing, unless it was included in the. same
book. It cannot be rationally imagined, that Moses could write all
HoM law, ivithout intermixing history in various instances with pr»-
eepts or threatenings ; for many of these immediately respected
fiM^ts, which had recently taken place, and were delivered in conse-
quence of those facts. Besides, their propriety could not be so well
perceived by posterity, unless the faets themi^ves were related, to-
gether with the precepts or threatenings ; nor would the motives to
obedience have been equally strong. Among these we may reckon
the ordinance, that no priest should drink wine or strong drink be-
fore enteriog into the tabernacle, which was delivered in consequence
of the judgment inflicted on Nadab and Abihu.^ Can it be believed
that Moses would barely record the ordinance, without taking the
least notice of the mournful occasion T It was one of the ordinances
of Grod, that the Israelites should vex the Midianites ; and it is not
to be supposed, that Moses would barely reeord the ordinance, with-
out triung the least notice of the occasion, and of this we. have a
particular account in the preceding part of the chapter. Many
•oeh examples might be given, but these may suffice.
* Lflviticya, z. 1—401
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THE OLD TESTTAIIENT SCKIFTUUES. %l%
It should be obsenred of the Pentateuch, there is no certain eri-
deace that it was origindly dirided into five books* It seems that
the seventy interpreters have not translated their Hebrew tides, but
hare given diem new ones in Greek, expressive of the principal
mbjects treated of' in eachl But if the books had been originally
tfins divided, it was natural to speak of them all as one ; because
iinty were (Contained in one volume or book, which was laid up be-
side the ark. The Jews of all ages, believed that the Pentateuch
was written by Moses, and by divine inspiration. Any Jew who
€^ not believe this, was considered an apostate from their religion.
One of the articles of their creed required this, and is thus express-
ed : *< The whole law, from the very first word, Bereschit, (that is.
In the beginning) to the last words, Jn the sight ofuM larael^^' were
written by Moses from the «« mouth of God." That they believed this
at the period of the Babylonish captivity is evident ; for it is said of
Ezra, that ** he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the
Lord God of Israel had given;* . This they believed during the reign
of Josiah : for it is said, ** Hilkiah found a book of the law of the
Lord by Mioses." There is reason to suppose, that this is the very
book which Moses laid up beside the aurk. It has been urged that
^ original phrase signifies that it was in the handwriting of Moses.
That by the book of the law, the Jews understood the Pentateuch is
evident from the language of Josephus in relation to this circum-
stance, for he says that the high priest discovered the sacred books
of Moses.
With respect to the sacrificial service enjoined by Josiah, it is
■aid, "They removed the burnt offerings tha'l they might give accord-
ing to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the
Lord as it is written in the book of Moses. ^*i The orders here
referred to are in Leviticus, chapter iii. 4-^10. Id the account of
the reformation under Hezekiah, there is a reference to what 4s con*
tained in Leviticus, Exodus and Numbers, under the general desigtia-
tion of what «*is written in the law of the Lord.^'} ** Jahoiada np-
, pointed the officers of the house of the Lord, by the hand of the
priests, die Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the
Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the
law of Moses^^ In the days of David, the different books of the
Pentateuch were called the ^*law of Moses^ The ordinances
• Esr«,vH.6. f 3 Chron. xzxv. 12. ^2 Chron. zxzL 2, a
^SChran. xxiiLld.
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Jt20 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OF
here referred to are recorded in Exodus, Leriticae, and Nambera.*
Elsewhere we are informed that David " left Zadok, the priest, and
his brethren before the tabernacle of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings
unto the Lord, upon the altar of the burnt offering continually, morn-
ing and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law
of the Lord which he commanded Israel/' t The institutions, with
respect to the momihg and evening sacrifices, are to be found in Exo*
dus,:( and Numbers,^ but tiot in Deuteronomy. From these proofr
it is evident that this expression, *« taritten in the law of the Lord,'*
has the same meaning with that of David, when he speaks of " the
chai^ of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Mo$e8,^*
In the da3rs of Joshua, this designation, <* the book of the law of
Moses," was used with the same extent as in the succeeding age^ ;
for it is said, that *' he read all the words of the law, the blessings
and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law
of Moses." Nay, it is added, «* There was not a word of all that
Mo^s commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congrega-
tion of Israd."!
From this it is evident that Moses had committed to Mrriting every .
thing concerning the law, and that all this was contained in what was
called «« th6 book of the law of Moses." And so fully were the Is-
raelites convinced that Moses not only wrote the book of the law,
but that he did it by divine inspiration, that they also caUed it ** the
book of the law of Ood," thetie expressions being used as synony-
mous.
As the book of Genesis is almost wholly historical, it is not to be
expected there should be so many references to it as to the rest of the
Pentateuch. But that the Jews included it in what they called the
book of the law is evident ; for Paul certainly expresses the convic-
tion of all his brethren, the Pharisees, when he he says, ** Tell me,
ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it
is written that Abraham had two sons ; tlie one by a bond* woman,
the other by a free woman."^ . The stress of his argument here is
laid on the acknowledged creed of the Jews, that all the five books
of Moses, including Oenesie^ constituted the book of the law of
Moses.
That the book of Genesis was included lathe book of the law pf
Moses, is confirmed by Josephus ; for treating of the Jewish records.
^Exoduf, zzviiL 1. f 1 Chron. xtL 80—41. ^Exodus, xxiz. 38.
^Nuinben, zzTiiiS— 4. | Jodioa, viiL 34, 36. ^ GaL iv. 81, 8S.
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THE OLD TE8TAMBNT SCRIPTUREa 221
he says, <* We hare twenty-two books, wkich include the hktory of
all fonner times, apd are justly regarded as divine ; five of them pro-
ceed from Moses.'* Cknesis, therefore, must have been included.
Besides, the great events recorded in Genesis must be viewed as
die very foundation of the peculiar dispensation which was given to
die Israelites. And although the principal facts might, and indeed
must have been known to the descendants of Jacob by tradition, yet
as the book of Qod was ultimately designed for the use of all nations,
it was therefore highly proper that its history should commence with
time itself. At the period in which Moses lived, comiption had
made a very great and general progress. Hence, it was necessary
that the history of Creation sl^ould be recorded by an unerring hand,
that the memory of it might not be lost among the fables of the heath-
ens. It was also necessary that mankind should be supplied with a
faithful account of the Fall. The history of promised Redemption
was also necessary, that men might expect a Saviour ; and that there-
by, when he should appear they might be able certainly to distinguish
die penon as especially made known by his exclusive character,
« the seed of the woman." To this it may be added, that isio close is
die connexion between the conclusion of Genesis and the beginning
oi Exodus^, that it cannot reasonably be supposed they were written
by different hands. The history in the latter, evidently proce^ on
the ground of what had been previously written in the former con-
cerning the departure of the Israelites into Egypt — concerning Joseph
and Pharaoh ; and if it is not a continuation of the history recorded
in Genesis, nothing can be more strange and abrupt than the begin-
oing of Exedus.
It is conceded, diat we have no testimony from contemporary authors
diat Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch; but this does not render
the evidence defective, for if there were any at that remote period,
which is highly improbable, their works and their memory have
perished. Sumner, in his Treatise on the Records of Creation, says,
«' The Jews as a nation were always in obscurity, the certain conse-
quence, not x)nly of their situation, but of the peculiar constitution and
jealous nature of their government Can it then reasonably be ex-
pected that we should obtain positive testimony concerning this small
said insulated nation from foreign historians, when the most ancient
of those whose works remain lived more than a thousand years pos-
terior to Moses T Can we look for it from the Greeks, when Thu-
cydides has declared, that, even respecting his own countrymen, he
could procure no authentic record prior to the Trojan war? or from
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298 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQIJITT OF
die Romans, who had scarcely begun to be a people when the empire
of Jerusalem was destroyed, and the whole nation reduced to captivi-
ty?" The profane testimony which can be produced serves only to
show what was the prevailing opinion among^ the heathen ; and when .
we find them not only recording many of the &cts written in the
Mosaic history, but speaking of Moses by name, and referring to his
law, the conclusion must be that no doubt was entertained that he
was die lawgiver of die Jews, or that his writings Were genuine.
Chalcidius, a celebrated Platonic philosopher^ called Moses ** the
prophet.^* Numenius, another philosc^her of the same school, <* the
udsest of men" Artapanus makes him the Mercury of the Greeks^
who was called Theyth or Theut by the Egyptians. He says,
" Moses, the child of a Jewess, but adopted by the daughter of Pal-
manothes, king of Egypt, delivered many things extremely useful to
die human race. On this account, he not only conciliated the afieo-
tions of the people, but from the priests easily acquired honor equal
to what is given to the gods, so that they called him Hermes, that is^
Mercury, or the interpreter, on account of his interpretation of sa<^
cred letters." Eupolemus says that ** Moses was the first wise man,
and that he first taught the Jews letters ; that the Phenicians received
these from the lews, and the Greeks from the Phenicians." Diodo-
nis Siculus acknowledges that Moses was the first legislator; he
says, "According to that ancient insdtntion of life, whkh took place
in Egypt, under the gods and heroes in those fabulous times, it is
related, that the first who persuaded the people to use written laws,,
lind to live according to them, was Moses, a man celebrated for the
greatness of his soul and for the regularity of his life." Alexander
Polyhester, so denominate4 because of his vast emditicHi, evidendy
refers to the book of Genesis when he says, <*Cleodemu8, the
prophet, called Malchus, in his book concerning the Jews, relates the
same thing «s Moses, their legislator, diat many sons were bom to
Abraham, three of whom were named Aser, Assur, and Afra." Ac-
cording to Josephus, the Egyptians esteemed Moses to be a wonder-
ful apd divine man, and were willing to have him thought a priest of
their own, which certainly was a proof of their high opinion of him,
though mixed with other fabulous relations. Numenius, the Pytha-
gorean philosopher of Apamea, in Syria, called Moses a man most
powerful in prayer to God, and said, «« What is Plato, but Moses
speaking in die Attic dialect?" which sentiment, whether just or
not, is yet b proof of the high opinion entertained of Moses by diis
philosi^her.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8GBIPTURE8. 223
In BO age has there existed a more Tident enemy to Ohristianify
than Porphyry. Yet this man, after having loaded Moses and the
prophets with reproaches, inadvertently leaves a testimony to the
truth of the Scriptures. Speaking of Sanconiathon, the Phenidan
writer, he says that he manifests the strictest regard to troth in the
history which he gives of the Jews, as having received the commen*
taries on this subject from Jerombaal, priest of the god Jeuo. This
history he dedicated to Abelbal, king of Berytus, which was approved
both by him and by others whom he had used as his advisers in in->
vestigating the truth. These persons, he further says, lived before
the time of the Trojan war, and were nearly of the same age with
Moses, as appears from the succession of the Phenician kings. He
adds, that Sanconiathon flourished in the time of Semiramis. - Euse«
bins has observed, that, even supposing Moses had not lived before
Sanconiathon, this testimony gives him very high antiquity, for Se-
miramis lived eight hundred years before the Trojan war.
It has been already observed, that the Jerombaal here referred to»
is generally supposed to have been Gideon, who was called Jerabbaal;
Jetio or Jao^ is just the name of Jehovah^ as it would be written by a
Greek. Porphyry's testimony to the statement of Sanconiathon, that he
had been supplied with commentaries of the Jews by Jerombaal, proves
that at this eariy period, they were not only acquainted with ^ting,
bnt had a sacred history of their nation ; and although it •does not
amount to a proof, yet it amounts to a strong presumption, that this his-
tory was written by Moses, because he is mentioned in immediate con;
nexion, and evidentiy as preceding the Phenician historian. From
the notice taken of MoseSf in connexion with these circumstances, it
appears extremely probable that these had been ascribed to him by
Sanconiathon.
To the preceding den^onstration of the genuineness of the Mosaic
writings, the following objection may be urged. We will admit the force
of the arguments, and grant that Moses actually wrote a book called the
book of the law ; but how can ^e ascertain that it was the book now
current in his name! and unless you can show this to be at least proba-
ble, your evidence is of no value. *' To illustrate the force or weak-
ness of this objection,'' says Mr. Home, "let us apply, it to some an-
cient Greek author, and see whether a classical scholar would allow it
to be of weight It is true that the Greek writers speak of Homer as
an ancient and celebrated poet ; it is true also tiiat they have quoted from
the works which they ascribe to him, various passages that we find at
present in the Diad and Odyssey ; yet still there is a possibility tiiat
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224 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUrjT OP
the poems which were written by Homer, and those whkh we eall
the Iliad and Odyssey, were totally distinct productions. Now an
advocate for Greek literature would reply to this objection, not with a
serious answer, but with a smile of contempt ^ and he would think it
beneath his dignity to silence an opponent who appeared to be deaf
to the clearest conviction. But still more may be said in defence of
Moses than in defence of Homer ; for the writings of the latter werd
not deposited in any temple, or sacred archive, in order to secure
them from the devastations of time, whereas the copy of the book of
the law, as written by Moses, was intrusted to the priests and the
elders, preserved in the ark of the covenant, and read to tiie people
every seventh year. Sufficient care therefore was taken, not only for
the preservation of the original record, but that no spurious produc*
tion should be substituted in its stead. And that no spurious pro-
duction ever has been substituted in the stead of the original composi-
tion of Moses, appears from the evidence both of the Greek Sep-
tuagint, and of the Samaritan Pentateuch. As these agree with the
Hebrew, except in some trifling variations, to which every work is
exposed by length of time, it is absolutely certain that the five books,
which we now ascribe to Moses, are one and the same work with
that which was translated into Greek in the time of the Ptolemies,
and wh|it is of still greater importance, with that which existed in
the time of Solomon. The Jews could have had no motive what*
ever, during' the period which elapsed between the age of Joshua and
that of Solomon, for substituting a spurious production instead of the
original as written by Moses ; and even had they been inclined to at*
tempt the imposture, would have been prevented by the care which
had been taken by their lawgiver. We must therefore conclude that our
present Pentateuch is the identical work that was delivered by Moses.
Besides the external evidence which has been produced in favor
of the books in question, equally convincing arguments may be drawn
from their contents. , The very mode of writing in the four last books
discovers an author contemporary with the events which he relates ;
every description, both religious and political, is a proof that the writer
was present at each respective scene ; and the legislative and histor-
ical parts are so interwoven with each otiier, that neither of them
could have been written by m man who lived in a later age. For in-
stance, the frequent genealogies which occur in the Pentateuch form
a strong proof that it was composed by a writer of very eariy date,
and from original materials. The genealogies of Jewish tribes were'
not mere arbitrary lists of names, in which the writer might insen as
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURB& 226
many fietitioiifl ones as he pleased, retaining only some few more con-
apioious names of existing families, to preserve an appearance of
their being founded in reality : but they were a complete enumeration
of aU the original stocks, from some one of which erery family in
the Jewish nation derived its origin, and in which no name was to be
inserted whose descendants or heirs did not exist in possession of the
property, which the original family had possessed at the first division
of the promised land. The distribution of property by tribes and
fiunilies proves, that some such catalogues of families as we find in
the Pentateuch must have existed at the very first division of the
conntry ; these must have been carefully preserved, because the prop-
arty of every family was unalienable, since, if sold, it was to return
to the original family at each year of Jubilee. The genealogies of the
Pentateuch, if they differed from this known and authentic register,
would have been immediately rejected, and with them, the whole
work. They therefore impart to the entire history all the authenticity
of spch a public register ; for surely it is not in the sl^htest degree
probable, that the Pentateuch should * ever have been received as the
original record of the settlement and division of Judea, if so import-
ant a part of it as the register of the genealogies had been known
to exist long before its publicatiotn, and to have been merely copied
into it from pre-existing documents.
Again, we may make a similar observation on the geographical
aiumerations of places in the Pentateuch, the accounts constantly
given of their deriving their names from particular events and partic-
ular persons, and on the details of marches and encampments which
OQCwr first on the progress of the direct narrative, when only some
few stations distinguished by remarkable facts are noticed, and after-
wards at its close, where a regular list is given of all the stations of the
Jewish camp. All this Ipoks like reality ; wherever the Pentateuch
was published, it would have been immediately rejected, had not the
account it gives of the origin of these names, and of the series of
these marches, been known to be true by the Jews in general;
for the book states that many of these names were adopted in conse-
quence of these events, from the very time they took place ; and it
also states that the entire nation was engaged in these marches. Now
the memory of such circumstances as these cannot long exist without
writing. If the Pentateuch was not what it pretends to be, the ori-
ginal detail of these circumstances, it could not have been received ;
for if it was published long after the events, and there was no pre-ex-
isting document of these details, which it delivers as things weU
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2S6 GREDIBILITT AND ANTIQUITY OF
known* how could it be receired as trae ? If it was copied from a
Imown pre-existing document, how could it be leceiTed as being ttMlf
the original ? Besides, it is natural for the spectator of events to con-
nect every circumstance with the place where it happened. An is*
▼entor of fiction would not venture upon this, as it would facilitate
the detection of his falsehood; a compiler long subsequent would
not trouble himself with it, except in some remariuible cases. The
very natural and artless manner in which all circumstances of thie
nature are introduced in the Pentateuch, increases the probability of
its being the work of an eye-witness .who could introduce them with
ease, while to any body else it would be extremely difficult and there-
fore unnatural, since it would render his work much more laborioDS*
without making it more instructive.
All these things bespeak a writer present at the transactions, deeply
interested in them, recording each object as it was suggested to his
mind by facts, conscious he had such authority with the persons to
whom he wrote, as to be secure of their attention, and ntteriy indiffer-
ent as to style or ornament, and those various arts which are em-
ployed to fix attention and engage regard, which an artful forger
would probably have employed, and a compiler of even a true history
would not have judged beneath his attention.
The frequent repetitions, too, which occur in the Pentateuch, and
ihe neglect of order in delivering the precepts, are strong proofs that
it has come down to us precisely as it was Written by Moses, at van*
ous times, and upon different occasions, during the long abode of the
Israelites in the wilderness. Had the Pentateuch beet re-written by '
any later hand, there would in all probability have been an appearance
of greater exactness ; its contentB would have been digested into bet-
ter order, and would not have abounded with so many repetitions.
To these considerations we may add, that up other person than Moses
himself could write the Pentateuch ; because, on comparing together
the different books of which it is composed^ there is an exact agree-
ment in the different parts of the narrs^ve, as well with each other as
with the different situations in which Moses, its supposed author, is
placed; and this agreement discovers itsielf in caincidencet $o nd*
nuier so latent, so indirect, and so evidently undesigned, that no-
thing could have produced them but reality and truth, influencing the
mind and directing the pen of the legislator.
The account which is given in the book of Exodus of the conduct
of Pharaoh towards the children of Israel, is such as might be expect-
ed from a writer who was not only acquainted with. Uie country at
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 2Sg7
Ittrge, but had frequent access to the coartof its soverei^; and the
minnte geograi^cal description of the passage through Arabia, is
such as could have been given only by a man like Moses, who had
^em forty years in the land of Midian. The language itself is m
proof of its high antiquity, whiph appears partly from the great sim*
jdicity of the style, and partly from the rise of archaisms, or anti-
quated expressions, .which in the da3r8 even of David and Solomon
were obsolete. But the strongest argument that can be produced, to
show that the Pentateuch was written by a man bora and educated in
Egypt, is the use of Egyptian words, which never were nor never
could have been used by a native of- Palestine; and it is a remarkable
ciiMBistaBce, that the very same thing which Moses had expressed
by a word that is pure Egyptian, Isaiah, as mif^t be expected from
his birth and education, has expressed by a word that is purely
Hebrew/'*
SECTION I.
Intibsls object against the credibility of the books of Judges, Kings,
and Chronicles, that they are anon3nnous, therefore of no authority.
They also assert of the books of Joshua and Samuel, that they aife
not their genuine writings, therefore they also, being anonymous,
are without authority. There is a great difference between the au-
thenticity and the genuineness of a book. The term authentic is
applied to any record which relates what are facts or truths ; but the
term genuine is applied to a book when it is known by whom it was
written, but has no reference whatever to its being a book containing
facts, or truths. A work may be truly genuine, that is, every word
contained in it may be written by the person whose name it bears,
yet it may consist altogether of falsehoods. Infidels, however, in their
zeal against the Scriptures, wantonly confound the term genuine with
&e word authentic. If a book contains the truth, it is not important
who wrote it ; therefore the fact of its being anonymous does not de-
stroy its authority. Doomsday-book is anonymous, and it was
written upwards of seven hundred years ago, yet the English courts
of law do not hold it to be without authority as to the matters of fact
related in it. The American Almanac, the Reviews, Sec, are all
anonymous, yet they are not considered of no authority. On the
contrary, they are now admitted, and in after ages they will be
* Homers brtrodiKlioii to the Study of the Sdiptmw, pp. 6^— -es.
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3SS CRBDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OP
leeeived as aathoiitadve evidence of the civil, military, and literary
history of America and Europe. Therefore, with the exception of
such books as, by the writers of the Scriptures themselves, are as-
cribed to certain individuals, it is of no importance who wrote the
historical books of the Old Testament
All the objections of any importance^ in relation to the authority of
the books named above, the read^ will find fully answered in the
repties to the objections urged against the genuineness of the Penta-
teuch, with one exception, that is, an objection against the genuine-
ness of the book of Joshua, founded on the occurrence in that book
in several instances of the term unto thi$ day. Thus, in chap. viii.
28, it is s^id, ** And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an heap forever^
a desolation tmio this day;'*^ and in tfie 29th verse of the same
chapter, where speaking of the king of Ai, whom Joshua had hanged
and buried at^the entering of the gate, it is said, "And he raised
thereon a great heap of stones, which remaineth unto this day.**
From this Mr. Paine infers, that the book must have been written
long after the death of Joshua. When it is considered that Joshua
lived twenty-four years after the burning of Ai, if he wrote his book
in the latter part of his life, and no evidence can be adduced to the
contrary, with every propriety he might say, Ai is still in ruins, or
Ai is in ruins to this very day. A young man who had witnessed
the funeral of Gen. Wasjiington, twenty yean after that, speaking
of the fact, might with propriety say, his remains are in a tomb
on the bank of the Potomac to this day. But what utterly destroys
the force of Mr. Paine*s objection is, that in the narrative of the de-
struction of Jerichp it is said, ** Joshua saved Rahab the hariot alive,
and her father's household, and all that she had ; and she dwelleth in
Israel even unto this day^* that is, unto the day or time when this
passage of the book of Joshua was written.
Of the Pentateuch, Mr. Paine says : •* The style and manner in
which those books are written, give no room to believe, or even to
suppose they were written by Moses, for it is altogether the style
and manner of another person speaking of Moses. In Exodus, Le-
viticus and Numbers, (for every thing in Genesis is prior to the time
of Moses, and not the least allusion is made to him therein^) the
whole, I say, of these books is in the third person ; it is always,
the Lord said unto Moses, or Moses said unto the Lord: or Moses
said unto thepeople, or the people said unto Moses; and this is the
style and manner that historians use, in speaking of the persons
whose lives and actions they are writing. It may be said that a man
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THE OLD TESTAMEirr 8CBIPTURE8. SSQ
may speak of himself in the third person; and therefore it maj be
supposed that Moses did ; but supposition proves nothing ; and if
the advocates for the belief that Moses wrote those books himself,
have nothing better to advance than supposition, they may as well
be silent" To this it has been justly observed in reply, that Zeno*
phon, Cesar, and JOsephus use this manner of writing, t^rhen they
relate the very transactions in which they were themselves the prin*
eipal agents or parties. It is true that supposition proves nothing ;
but facts prove a great deal ; and the writer of the Pentateuch evi-
dently introduces Moses as ** speaking of himself in the third per-
son/' The prophetical benediction of Israel is recorded in this man-
ner : <' And this is the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God,
blessed the children of Israel before his death." •« And he," that is
Moses, ^' said, the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Levi un-
to them; he shined forth firom mount Paran, and he came with ten
thousands of saints : from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
Yea, he loved the people ; all his saints are in thy hand, and they
•at down at thy feet; every one^ shall, receive thy words. Moses
commanded u^ a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of
Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the peo-
ple and the tribes of Israel were gathered together," dec. Now with-
^oat doing the greatest violeQce to language, we must necessarily sup-
pose, that all that here follows the introduction is giv^n, as contained
in the address of Moses to the people^
As we have undoubted testimony that this manner of speaking was
▼ery ancient, no good reason can be given why it should not also
be used in writing. Jacob, in his blessing, speaks sometimes in the
first, add sometimes in the third person. The same mode of expres-
sion is attributed to Balaam ; *« Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he t09k
up his parable and said, Balaam, the son of Beor, hath said, and
the man whose eyas .are open hath said," iic. Can any one doubt
that Matthew and John wrote the Gospels ascribed to them, merely
because they speak of themselves in the third person ?
Mr. Paine proceeds : *' But granting the grammatical right that Mo-
ses might speak of himself in the third person, because any man
might speak of himself in that manner, it cannot be admitted as
a fact in those books, that it is Moses who speaks, without rendering
Moses truly ridiculous and absurd: for example, Numbers, chap. xii.
▼er. 3 : " Now the man Moses was very meek, above all men which
w&e on the face of the earths If Moses said this of himself, in-
stead of being the meekest of men, he was one of the most vain and
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280 GREDIBILTT AND ANTIQUITT OF
arrogant of coxcombs ; and the adTOcatea of those books maj now
take which side they please, for both sides are against them; if
Moses was not the author, the books are without authority, and if ha
was the author, the author was without credit, because to boast of
fneekne9$ is the reverse of meekness, and w a lie in kentiment.**
The objection here urged by Mr. Paine, certainly comes with an
iU grace frqm one, who was sa careful to inform mankind of his
great consequence, both as a political and as a theological writer, as
appears from the following pass&ges : *' I wrote Common Sense the
latter end of the year 1775, and published it the 1st of January 1776.
iNDSPfiNDENCE was DECLABED the 4th of July following. I was
seized with a fever. It was then that I remembered with renewed
satisfaction, and congratulated myself most sincerdy, on having
written the former part of the Age of Reason. I have produced m
work that no Bible believer, though writing at his ease, and with a
library of church books about him can refute.'* Any reader can de-
cide whether this language or that attributed to Moses, discovers'** one
of the most vain and arrogant coxcombs,'! especially if it be consider*
ed that he who was at such. pains to record his own excellencies, and
the great benefit resulting to society from his labors, did not give an
equal evidence of his credibility by recording one of his errors.
The apparent self-praise in the statement of Moses, even had h«
made it, is no moi;p an objection to his credibility, than his unexam-
pled impartiality in recording his errors. They both must be attri-
buted to inspiration ; for if that self-love, whi^h is natural to ail
men, and which prompts the generality of writers to. draw a veil
over their faults, did not hinder Moses from recording his own ob-
stinacy, unbelief, kiniol wrath, and judicial exclusion' from the land
of promise ; it is unnatural to suppose that he was under the influ-
ence of this principle when he was expressing the singular meekness
of hi^ temper ; especially as he must have viewed it as a gift of God*
qualifying him for his arduous work, and therefore as no proper
ground for boasting. But nothing is more common than for the ad-
versaries of revelation to separate one part of its evidence from the
other, although essentially connected.
But it appears that Moses made no isuch statement as attributed to
him by our translaton. Dr. Adam Clarke in his comment on the
passage says, *< The word is not rightly understood ; anav^ which we
translate meek, comes from anqh^ to act upon, to. humblC) depress,
afflict, and is translated so in many places of the Old Testament, and
in this sense it should be understood here : ** Now this man Moses
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 281
was dqires$ed or afflicted more than any man (AoodicmiaA) of that land.
And why was he so? Because of the great burden he had to bear
in the care and government of this people, and because of their in-
gratitude and rebellion against God and himself."
It has been urged as a very important objection, that the name of
Dan is found in Genesis, chapter xiv. 14 ; whereas the town former-
ly denominated Laish, was not called Dan till about the time of Sam-
son.
Mr. Paine says, "In the 14th chapter of Genesis, the writer gives
an account of Lot being taken prisoner in a battle between the four
kings against five, and carried off; and that when the account of
I^t being taken came to Abraham, he armed all his household and
inarched to rescue Lot from the captors ; and he pursued them unto
Dan.
To show in what manner the expression of pursuing them unto
Dan applies to the case in question, (the historical and chronological
eridence,) I will refer to two' circumstances, the one in America, the
o&er in France. The ci^ now called New- York, in America, was
originally New Amsterdam; and the town in France, lately called
Havre Marat, was before called Havre de Grace. New Amsterdam
was chan^ to New^York in the year 1664; Havte de Grace to
Havre Marat in 1793. Should, therefore, any writing be found,
though without date, in which the name of New-York should be
mentioned, it would be certain evidence that such, a writing could not
have been written before, and must have been written after New Am-
sterdam was changed to New- York, and conse(juently not till after
the year 1664, or at least during the course of that year. Ahd in
like manner, any dateless writing with the name of Havre Marat,
would be certain evidence that such a writing tnust have been written
after Havre de' Grace became Havre Marat, and consequently not till
after the year 1793, or at least during the cousse of that year.
I now come to ihe application of those cases, and to show that
^ere was no such place as Dan^ till many years afier the death of
Moses ; and consequendy, that Moses could not be the writer of the
book of Genesis, where this account of pursuing them unto Dan is
given.
The place that is called Dan in the Bible was originally a town of
tfie Gentiles, called Laish ; and when the tribe of Dan seized upon
this town, they changed its name to Dan, in commemoration of Dan,
who was the &ther of that tribe, and the great grandson of Abraham.
To establish this in proof, it is necessary to refer from Genesis to
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282 CBEDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
the I8t)i chapter of the book called the book of Judges. It is there
said that they (the Danites) came unto Laish, to a people that were
quiet and secure, and they smote them with the edge of the sword,
and burned the city wkh fire ; and they built a city, and dwelt there-
in, and they called the name of the. city Dan, after the name of Dan
their father, howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
This account of the Danites taking possession of Laish and chang-
ing it to Dan, is placed in the book of Judges immediately afbr the
death of Samson. The death of Samson is said to have happened
eleven hundred and twenty years before Christ, and that of Moses
fourteen hundred and "fifty-one .before Christ; and therefore, accord-
ing to the historical arrangement, the place was not called Dan til}
three hundred and thirty-one years after the death of Moses.
According to the chronological arrangement, the taking of Laisb,
and giving it the name of Dan, is made to be twenty years aftfv the
death of Joshua, who was the successor of Moses, and by the his-
torical order as it stands in the book, it is made to be three hundred
and six years after the death of Joshua, and three hundred and thnrty-
one aAer that of Moses ; but they both exclude Moses from being the
writer of Genesis, because -according to either of the statements, no
such place as Dan existed in the time of Moses ; apd thei^fore^ the
writer of Genesis must have been some person who lived af^er the
town of Laish had the name of Dan ; and who that person was,
nobody knows ; and consequently the book of Genesis is anonymous
and wi^out authority."
The evidence that the Pentateuch was written by Moses, would
not be in the least degree weakened by the supposition that the Dan
mentioned in Genesis, had been originally Laish; for after Laish
came to be little known, the word Dan might have been inserted in
the margin, and aAerwards by some transcriber, it might have been
transferred to the text.
But there is no necessity for this supposition. The Infidel cannot
prove that there was not a place or rivulet of the name of Dan, in the
days of Abraham. We are told that the Jordan is formed by the
union of two springs, the uppermost ari^s in Mount Lebanon, about
twelve miles north of Cssarea Philippi. One of these springs was
•*Jor," and the other "Dan," which name gaye rise to the word
Jordan: on the latter of these the town of Dan was situated, which
had been formerly called Laiah. There can be no doubt that in the
time of Moses, this river^ was called Jordan ; and from the silence
of other parts of Scripture with respect to this Dan, it can be no
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THE OLD TESTAMENT 8CRIPTX7RE& 283
more inferred that it did not exist, than that there was no such place
as Hobah^ mentioned in the next verse, because the name occurs no
where else in the Scriptures.
Mr. Paine proceeds to urge another objection against the antiquity
and genuineness of the Pentateuch^ which has been considered the
most formidable of all. He sa)rs, '• Isa the d6th chapter of Genesis,
there is given a genealogy of the sons and descendants of Esau, who
are called Edomites ; and also a list, by name, of the kings of Edom ;
in enumerating of which, it is said, verse 31, *«And these are the
kings that reigned in Edom, before there reigned any king over the
children of IsraeL"
Now were any dateless writings to be found, in which speaking of
any past events, the writer should say, these things happened before
there was any congress in America, or before there was any con-
vention in France, it would be evidence that such writings could not
have been written before, and could only be ihritten aAer there was a
eongressr in America or a convention in France, as 'the case might be;
and consequendy, that it could not be written by any person who
died before there was a congress in the on^ country, or a convention
in the other.
Nothing is more frequent, as well in history as in conversation, than
to refer to a fact in the room of a date ; il V9 most natural so to do,
because a fact fixes itself in the memory better than a date ; secondly,
because the fact includes the date, and serves to excite two ideas at
onpe ; and this manner of speaking by circumstances implies as posi-
tively that -the fact alluded to is past^ as if it was expressed. When
a person speaking' upon ^any matter says, it was before I was mar-
ried, or before my soji w^s bom, or before I went to America, or
before I went to France, i^is absolutely understood, and intended to
be understood, that he has been married, that he has had a son, that
he has been in America, or been in France.. Language ' does not
admit of using this mode of expression in any other sense; and
whenever such an expression is found any where, it can only be un-r
derstood in the sense in which onl/ it could have been used.
The passage therefore that I have quoted, '*Uiat these are the kings
that reigned in Edom, before there reigned any king over the children
of Israel,*' could only have been written after the first kin^ began to
reign over them ; and consequently, that the book of Genesis, so far
from having been written by Moses, oonld not have been written till
the time of Saul at least This iai the positive sense of the passage ;
but the expression, any^ king, implies mora kings than one, at least it
v2 30
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234 ORBDrenilTY AND ANTIQUrrr OP
implies two, and this will carry it (o the time of David ; and if taken
in a general sense, it carries itself through all the time of a Jewish
monarchy.
Had we met widi this verse in any part of the BMerihaXprafesied
to have been written after kings began ta reign in Israd, it wotdd have
been impossible not to have seen tbe application of it. It happens
then that this is the case ; the two books of Ghronides, which gave a
history of all the kings of Israel, are professedly ^ as well as in fact,
written after the Jewish monahshy began; «ad this verse that I have
quoted, and all the remaining versed of the 86th chapter of Genesis,
are, word for word, in the first chapter of Chronicles, beginning at
the 4drd verse.
It was with consistency that the writer of the Chronicles could say,
as he has said, 1 Chronides, i. xliii. These are the kings thai reigned
in Edom^ before there reigned any king over the ehUdren of Israei^
because he was going to give, and h^s given a list of the kings that
reigned in Israel ; but as it is impossible that the same expression
oonld have been used before that period, it is as certain as any thing
can be proved from historical language, that this part of Genesis is
taken from Chronicles, and that Genesis is not so old as Chronicles,
and probably not so old as the book of Homer, or as JEsop's fables,
admitting Homer to have been, as the tables of chronology statcu con-
temporary with David, or Solomon, and iBsop to have lived aboutT the
end of the Jewish monarchy.'* . .
Because in Gnosis it is said, "These are the kings that reigned
in Edom before there reigned any king Ovef the children of Israi^l,'*
and the same passage is found in 1 Chronicles, it has been infbrred
by Mr. i^aine, that tfiis part of Genesis has be^ taken from Chroni-
des, and therefore Genesis is not so old. as Chronicles. But if the
two passages are compared, It will appear far more natural .to con-
dude that the. ^nen^alogy in Genesis was first written, and that the
odier is an abridgment of it; for the former is more than double the
size of the latter. Dr. Clarke supposes, that the words in Genesis,
chap, zxxvi. 81, might have been at a very early period, written in
Hie margin of an authentic copy to make out the regal Koccession ot
Edom, prior to the consecration of Saul ; which words being aAer-
wards found in the margin of a valuabler copy, from which odiers
were translated, were supposed by the copyist to be a part of the
text, which having been omitted by the mistake of the ongii^al wri-
ter, had been since added. Mr. Home is also of the same opinion,
and the supposition can affect neither the genuineness,. authentidty or
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 285
inspiration of the book. Bujfc this supposition is unnecessary, for it
was in the hi^est degree consistent with the design of Moses to give
a particular account of the Edomites. He had already recorded the
prophecy delivered to Rebekah, that **the one people should be strong-
er than the otheflr, and that the; elder should serve the younger.*' Iii
the passage he shows that the EMomites formed a considerable nation*
nnder a regal government, while die Israelites, so Cir from having any
rolers of their own race, were in a state of slavery in Egypt; thereby
the completion of the prophecy was made to appear the more re-
maHcable. The term before there reigned any king aver the chU^
dren of Israel, may merely signify, before they had any regular gov-
ernment of their own. For, says Mr. Richardson, to whom ' this ar-
ticle is deeply indebted, " the word rendered king is sometimes used
to denote a judge or governor." Thus in the history of Judges it is
said, ** In these days there was no king in Israel, but every man did
that which was right in his own eyes.''
It Lb evident that. the term is here used to denote a judge; for there
had never been a king in Israel in any other sense. The reason ad-
ded shows incontestably that nothing more is intended than that they
had no chief rtd^ of any kind. That the meaning of the passage
objected against, viz : '* And these are the kings that reigned in the
land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of /#-
radi** evidently is, that the persons mentioned had governed Edom
before Israel had any judge or chief ruler; and that this is the true
meaning of the passage is confirmed by the language 6f Moses hmi-
self ; for in Duteronomy, chap, xxxiii. 5, he calls himself " king in
Jeshorun."
Mr. Jamieson very satisfactorily siccounts for the language in an-
other way. He says, ''The writer has already si^d that God had
declared to Jacob, as. he had already done to Abraham, '* Kings shall
come out of thy loins." But by giving a particular account of the
priority of the descendants of Esau as to temporal dignity, he in
effect shows the Israelites how God was pleased to try their faith in
his promise.
FVom the number of governors mentioned in this chapter, it can-
not justly be inferred that their succession extended to a much later
period than that in which Moses is said to have wrote ; for accord-
ing to the judgment of some learned writers, a considerable number
of their rulers preceded Esau. The Horites, whose dukes are here
named, existed as a nation in the time of Abraham. There is no ev-
idence tliat the kings mentioned aAer them had any affinity to Esau.
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286 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITY OP
It has been sapposed that the Horites were first governed by different
independent chiefs called dukeiy but that being easily conquered while
in this divided state by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, they united un-
der a monarchical gohremment, and that when Esau's posterity increas-
ed, this form of government was changed and the former restored.
It would appear, however, that for a considerable time at least, the
country was divided into two districts, that me one was called the
land of Seir, and that the other received the name of the land of
Edom, afler being possessed by the posterity of Esau. The chiefii
of the Horite race were sovereigns of Seir ; and it seems probable
that the kingly government existed at the same time in the country
afterwards called Edom. But though it were possible to prove that
all these kings were the descendant of Esau, it would not follow that
they did not all reign before the time of Moses. They are only
eight in number, and it was not until two hundreil and thirty-six years
after the death of Isaac that Moses entered on the work of judging
Israel. As to the dukes of the family of Esau, it is evident that we
have only two descents of them. In the first there were fourteen ;
each governing his own territory at the same time — and eleven in the
second. I shall only further observe, that had Genesis been written
after Chronicles, the writer, as a Jew, would undoubtedly have paid
as great a compliment to his own nation as to the Edomites, and
would therefore have carried down the genealogy of the fieunily of
Jacob as (ir as that of Esau.*' *
Mr. Paine founds an argument, that Moses did not write the Penta-
teuch, On these words, ** And the children of Israel did eat manna
until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna until they
came unto the borders of the land of Canaan."
*« Whether the children of Israel ate manna or not, or what manna
was, or whether it was any thing more than a kind of fungus or small
mushroom, or other vegetable substance copmon to that part of the
country, makes nothing to my argument; all that I mean to show is,
that it is not Moses that could write this account, because the account
extends itself beyond the life and tiipe of Moses. Moses, according
to the Bible^ dies in the wilderness, and never came upon the borderU
of the land of Canaan; and, consequently, it could not be he who
said what the children of Israel did, or what they ate when they
came there. The account of eating manna, which they tell us was
written by Mo^s, extends itself to the time of Joshua, the successor
^ Jamiefon'fl Sacred Hiitory, pp. 86, '87.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT SCBIPTURBa 297
of Moses, as appears by the account giren in tfie book of Joshua,
after the children of Israel had passed the river Jordan, and came unto
the borders of the land of Canaan. Joshua, chap. v. yer. 12. ** And
the manna ceased on the morrow, after they had eaten of the old com
of the land ; neither had the children of Israel mani^a any more, but
they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."
The language of Moses is, ** And the children of Israel did eat
manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited i they did eat
manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan."
There is nothing in this language which Moses could not say with
propriety. It was incumbent on him, as a faithful historian, not only
to relate the miraculous sustenation of Israel, but to tell how long it
had continued to his certain knowledge. Before he had finished his
writings, they had been forty years in the wiUemees^ and all this
time they had been fed with manna. So far from thinking it unnatn-
lal that Moses should refer to the duration of the miracle, it would
have been surprising if he had mentioned it in any other way, for die
duration of it afforded a much more convincing proof of its reahty
than if it had been performed only once or twice. When it is said
that this continued ** until they came to a land inhabited," it does not
follow that the writer means to say that it immediately ceased. The
preposition until is often used in a very different sense, by both
sacred and profane writers. The design of the passage is not to speci-
fy the precise time that the manna continued with the Israelites, but
to show that God had miraculously fed them forty years, while they
had no ordinary means of support. The contrast b stated n<^t
properly between Canaan and that whole country, whether desert or
cultivated, which lay between Egypt and it; but between a land in*
habited^ where food might have been procured, and the tvildemess^
where they could find none. This appears most clearly from the
connexion between the 35th and 32d verses : ** Moses said, this is the
thing which the Lord €rod commandeth, fill an amer of it, to be kept
for your generations, that they may see the bread wherewith / have
fed you in the unldemeaSf when I brought you forth from the land
of Egypt." "And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years,
^tmtil they came to a land inhabited.'*^ Then the writer returns to
illustrate what he hath said in verse 32, concerning the quantity
to be laid up : " NOw an omer is the tenth part of an ephah,"
verse 30* * » . -
The passage bears internal evidence of having been written before
the Israelites entered Canaan. Had the passage been written after
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388 CREDIBILrrY ANV ANTIQUITY OF
the Israelites were settled in the land of Canaan, the language would
most likely have been, They did eat manna until they came ifUo the
land of Canaan. But instead of this, the reading is, «« until they
came unto the bordere of the land of Canaan.*^
Mr. Paine makes a misstatement, and takes an unfair advantage of
his readers, when he says, *' Moses, according to the Bible, dies in the
wilderness, and never came t^on the borders of the land of Canaan.*'
But he certainly did come, unto those borders, for before he finished
his writings, he was in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho.*
Before his death he uses similar langtl^ in regard to the miraculous
support, with that in ^e verse under consideration. He addresses the
Israelites as having now finished their perigrinations in the wilder-
ness, and as being come to a land inhabited. He speaks as if the
miraculous supply of manna had been at an end, because he knew it
was to cease in a very short time. «« Thou shalt remember all the
way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty yean in the wilder-
ness, and he fed thee with manna." And again, "Who led thee
through that great ^d terrible wilderness, who fed thee in the wilder-
ness with manna."
Mr. Paine maintains, that such language could not be applicable to
the Israelites during. the life of Moses, by comparing it with that in
Joshua, chap. v. 12. ** And the manna ceased on the morrow, after
they had eaten of jlhe old corn of tfie land, neither had the children
of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year." But the language is very dififerent, for it is said
expressly that the manna cea$ed. Here we do not read merely of
a land inhabited^ but of iAe land of Canaan. The phraseology sup-
poses that the people were come, not unto the borders of the land of
Caiiaan, but to the land itself. From the other passage there is no
reason to conclude, that the writer meant to insinuate that the Israel-
ites had no more manna, for he mentions no substitute. But here we
are informed that they made use of com ins^d of it.t
Two objections have been founded by Mr. Paine on what is
said in Deuteronomy, chap* iii. 11; he says : "But a more remarkable
instance tl^an this occurs in Deuteronomy ; which, while it shows
that Moses could not be the writer of that book, shows also the fa-
bulous notions that prevailed at that time about giants. In the third
chapter of Deuteronomy, among the conquests said to be made by
Moses, is an account pf the taking of Og, king of Bashan, ver. 11.
* Niuiibflr% zzziil 60. f Jamieson's Sacred Hiitoiy, p. 88.
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THB OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 239
*< For onlj Og, king of Bashan, remained of the race of giants ; be-
hold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron ; is it not in Rabbath, of
the children of Ammon : nine cubits was the length thereof, and
four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man/* A cubit is
one foot nine 888«I000ths inches ; the length therefore^ of the bed
was sixteen feet four inches, and the breadth seven feet four inch-
es ; thns much for this giant's bed. Nqw for the historical part,
which, though the evidence is not so direct and positive as in the
former cases, it is nevertheless very presumable and corrobora*
ting evidence, and is better than the best evidence on the contrary
side.
The writer, by way of proving the existence of this giant, refers to
his bed as an ancient relic,* and says, is it not in Rabbath (or Kab-
bah,) of the children of Ammon ? meaning that it is, for such is fre-
quently the Bible method of affirming a thing. But it could not be
Moses that said this, because Moses could know nothing about Kab-
bah, nor of what was in it Kabbah was not a city belonging to this
giant king, nor was it one of the cities that Moses took. The know-
ledge, therefore, that his bed was at' Kabbah, and of the particulars
of its dimensions, must be referred to the time when Kabbah was
taken, and this was not till four hundred years af^r the death of Mo-
ses ; for which see 2 Sam. chap. xii. ver. 26 : " And Joab, (David's
general) fought against Kabbah of the children of Ammon, and took
the royal city."
The first objection is, that the statement given by Moses« counte-
nances fabulous notions about giants. To this it is replied, that the
existence of persons of an extraordinary size, is a fact well attested
by profane, as well as by sacred history ; and instances are not want-'
ing in the present day, of individuals, who are of such a stature,
that in comparison with them, the rest of mankind are pigmies ; and
this objection requires no other reply.
The other objection is, that the passage could not have been writ-
ten by Moses, because he knew nothing about Ka(bbah, nor of what
was in it Mr. Paine, in this instance, gives a striking evidence of
the eagerness with which tlie enemies of Kevelatton* grasp at every
straw to save their sinking cause, and of the wretched shifts to
which they resort to deceive the unn^ary. A greater display of gross
ignorance of the subject, or of daring presumption, could not have
been given, than is contained in the assertion, that as Kabbah did not
* Mofw doei not lay the bedstead wae an aneient relic
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240 CREDIBILITY AND ANTIQUITT OF
bdong to Og, nor yet was it taken by Moees, therefore it was impoe-
sible for Moses to have any knowledge of what was in It From
this mode of reasoning, those who had never read the Mosiac history
would infer, that Rabbah either had no existence when Moses wrote,
or that it was many hundreds of miles distant from the scene of his
conquests. The kingdom of Og, however, was separated from Ba»
shan only by the river Jabbok ; and Jazer, one of the cities conquer*
ed by the Israelites, was within a few miles of Rabbah. The inher-
itance of the children of Gad, as well as that of Reuben, extended to
the river Jazer. On this river Rabbah was situated ; therefore, h
was in the vicinity of the scene of the operations of Moses. Yet
we are gravely told thai Moses could have no knowledge of Rabbah
or what was in it. In Holy-Rood palace at Edinburgh, there is pre-
served the bedstead of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots ; and
on the floor of the rbom in which it is contained, are shewn stains,
•aid to have been made by the blood of the murdered Rizzio. This
is known to many who have never been within thousands of miles
of Holy-Rood. But, the Infidel calls upon us to renounce our faith
in t^e genuineness and authen^dity of the books of Moses ; and, for
this reason, that it was impossible for Moses to know of the exist*
ence of a very remarkable curiosity, viz : Og's bedstead, in a town
m few miles distant from the scene 'of his operations; «ad that, be*
cause he never saw it with his own , eyes. To sustain himself, the
Infidel, in this instance at least, must have recourse to* a miracle, and
that is, that the waters of the river Jabbok, which intervened between
Moses and Rabbah, possessed as wonderful virtues as those ascribed
to Lethe. And if it did not obliterate from his mind all memory of
the past, yet it prevented any increase of knowledge from the fu-
ture ; and of what took place beyond it, he <* could know nodiing.'*
It is equally absurd to assert that the particulars here recorded
could not be known until the time of David. From the history of
the siege of Rabbah, there is every reason to suppose that the city
was totally destroyed by him; and if this were so, no man after-
wards would write concerning Og's bedstead, Hig it not in Rabbah?''
when Rabbah itself had no existence. But could it even be proved
that this verse had been written in the age of David, it would not
necessarily follow, that the whole of the Pentateuch was of as late a
date ; nor yet would it weaken the evidence of the Scriptures, in
respect td the existence of giants, which is declared in a variety of
other places. But its eflect would be direcdy the contrary; for it
would prove that the extraordinary size of this king, was admitted
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TKB OLD TESTAMENT 8GiaPTURE& Ml
by a neighboring nation, four hundred yean af\er the death of Moses;
and that they still preserved his bedstead as a proof of the fact ; un«
less it ean be supposed that the Anunorites were so friendly to the
idigion of the Israelites, as to make this bed a^t some later period,
§or the express purpose of confirming their sacred history. Besides,
U is very strange that the circumstance should be considered worthy
of so much attention in the days of David, while it could not come
to the knowledge of Moses, or attract any attention in his time.
An argument against the genuineness and authenticity of the Penta*
lench has been founded on the fact that the death of Moses Is recorded
Id the writings attibuted to him.
<< The writer of the book of Deuteronomy, whoever he was, (for
it is an anonymous work,) is obscure, and also in contradiction with
himself ip the account he has giv^n of Moses.
Aikr telling th^t Moses went to the top of Pisgah (and it does not
appear from any account that he ever came down again) he tells us,
that Moses died there in the land of Moab ; but as there is no antece-
dent to the pronoun Ae, there is no knowing who he was that did bury
him* If the writer meant that he (God) buried him, how should he (the
writer) know it? or why should we (the readers) believe him? since
we know not who the writer was that tells us so, for certainly Mosee
could not himself tell where he was buried.
The writer also tells us, that no man knoweth where the sepulchre
•f Moses is unto thi$ ddy^ meaning the time in which this writer
bved ; how then should he. know that Moses was buried in a valley in
the land of Moab ? For, as the writer lived long after the time of
Moses, as is evident from his using the expression of unto tkU doj/t
meaning a great length of time after the death of Moses, he certainly was
sot at his funeral; and on the other hand, it is imponsible that Moses
himself could say, that no man btoweth where the aepitlehre is unto
thie day. To make Moses the speaker, would be an improvement on
the play of a child that hides iiimself and cries nobody can find me i
nobody can find Moses.
This writer has no where told us how he came by the speeches
which he has put into the mouth of Moses to speak, and therefore we
have a right to conclude, that he either composed them himself, or
wrote them from oral tradition."
At the risk of exciting the laughter of the Infidel, in reply to. this
•bjiection, it is by no means impossible that Moses^ before going up
to Mount Pisgah, wrote the account of his own death and all the oiv-
coastanoee attending it. If he was so guided by the Holy Spirit,
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24S CREDIBILITT AND ANTTQUITT OF
tet he was enabled to foretell the fotare history of iSbe Jews dmragh-
out all ages, he certainly, under the sam^ diTine influence, could re-
cord his own death. And if it yet be shown that he was inspired of
Ood to foretell fbture events, as a consequence it will follow that it is;
not incredible that Moses should; before his departure, record in his
writings what was to transpire at his death as though it had already
occurred.
But it is not necessary to the truth of the sacred Scriptures that
werjf word of a book should have been written by the person whose
name it bears. And it is most probable that the last chapter of Deu-
teronomy was added by, Joshua; especially as it would seem, 4hat
with the eiception of Uie concluding Tcrses, he wrote the whole of
that book which bears his name, in the very Tolume which Moses
had deliyered to the priests, to be laid up beside the ark. For we ar^
informed, that aAer Joshua had made a covenant with the people, and
set them as a statute and an ordinance in Shechem, he wrote these
toordi in the book of the law of God. Had Mark Antony or any
of the ancient Romans appended to C»sar*s Commentaries an account
of his death, would this have been an evidence that the whole body
of the work was spurious ! He that would maintain such an absurdity
would render himself ridiculous. Why then should the recording^
of the deadi of Moses, by Joshua or any of ^ ancient Jews, invali-
date the claims of the Pentateuch as the genuine writings of Moses,
especially when not only the whole nation of Israel daim him as
their great lawgiver, but we have such overwhelming testimony to
show that he did write those books which are ascribed to him.
Having, by a connected and decisive chain of evidence, established
the credibility, antiquity, and g\Bnuineness of the Old Testament
Scriptures, the necessary conclusion in every uncontaminated mind
must be, diat the wonderful and miraculous events detailed in them
did transpire, and consequently the Old Testament contains a Revela-
tion from Gk>d. But it may be objected that Moses must have bor-
rowed his history from the creation to his own times, from the pre*
vailing traditions. This is impossible, for in the very first sentence
he wrote, he aimed a death blow at one of the most cherished dogmas
of the day in which he lived, « In the beginning Ood created the
heaven and the earth.*' The popular doctrine then was, that matter
is eternal, that it had no beginning and can have no end.' This doc-
trine he denies ; and maintains that the worid had a beginning and
that Ood was iti creator. They believed that tfie sun and moon were
objects of adoration. But in the details of creation he asserts that
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'iHE OLD TE8TAMBNT SCRIPTURBa $48
tfiey were made^ the sun to give light by day, and the moon by night.
They bdiered that the earth had been destroyed by a deluge, that
thereby it might be renewed ; he taught that it was destroyed on ac-
count of the wickedness of mankind.
But it may be said, if he did not borrow the preyailing traditions,
then he must faaye invented his history. This also was improbable ;
for others were as familiar with the traditions as he was. For in-
stance, if when he stated to the Israelites that they were descended
^m Abraham, they knew it to be false, it would hare been impossi-
ble for him to haye persuaded them that it was true. The truth is,
Moses told his contemporaries nothing but what they knew before.
In the language of a philosophical writer, «< He found the truth cot-
ered with a drapery of falsehood and superstition, and stripping these
sway, he only preserved it in its naked simplicity and beauty, that
man might wander no longer in the thick darkness with which he
was surrounded."
The question may now be asked, whence then did Moses derive
ihe materials for his history ! To this enquiry the following very
satisfactory answer is given by Mr. Home. ** There are only three
ways in which these important records could have l^een preserved
and brought down to the time of Mosesr viz : writing, tradition and
divine revelation. In the antediluvian world, When the life of man
was so protracted, there was comparatively litde need for writingi
Tradition answered every purpose to which writing in any kind of
characters could have been subservient ; and the necessity of erecting
monuments to perpetuate public events could scarcely have suggested
itself; as during those times there could be little danger apprehended
of any important fact becoming obsolete, its history having to pass
through very few hands, and all these friends and relatives in the
most proper sense of the terms ; for they lived in an insulated state,
under a patriarchal government. Thus it was easy for Moses to b^
satisfied of the truth of all he'relates in the book of Genesis, as the
accounts came to him through the medium of very few persons.
From Adam to Noah there was but one man necessary to the correct
transmission of the history of this period of sixteen hundred and
fifty-six years. Adam died in the year of the world nine hundred
and thirty, and Lamech, the father of Noah, was bom in the year
eight hundred and seventy-fore ; so that Adam and Lamech were
eontemporaries for fifty-six years. Methuselah, the grandfather of
Noah, was bora in the year of the world six hundred and eighty-
seven, and died in the year sixteen hundred and fifty six, so that he
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244 GRBDIBILITT AND ANnQUTTY OP
Kred to see both Adam and Lantech (from whom doubtless he acquir-
ed the knowledge of this history,) and was likewise contemporary-
with Noah, for six hundred years. In like manner Shem connected
Noah and Abraham, having lived to converise with both, as Isaac did
with Abraham and Joseph, from whom these things might be easily
coDveyBd to Moses by Amrkm, who was contemporary with Joseph.
Supposing then, all the curious facts recorded in the book of Genesis
lo have had no other avithority than the tradition already referred to,
they would stand upon a foundation of credibility superior to any
Ihat the most reputable of the ancient Greek and Latin historians can
boast.
Another solution of the question, as to the source whence Moses
obtained the materials for his history, has been offered of late years
by many eminent critics, who are of opinion that Moste consulted
monuments or records of former ages, which had descended from the
fimiilies of the patriarchs, and were in existence at the time he wrote.
This opinion was first announced by Vitringa, and was adopted by
Calmet; who, from the genealogical details, the^ircumstantiality of
the relations, the specific numbers of years assigned to the patriarchs,
as well as the dates of the facts recorded, concludes that Moses could
not have learned the particulars related by him with such minute ex*
actness, but from written documents or memoirs. Of thiis descrip-
tion, he thinks, was the book of Jasher, or of the Upright, which
IS cited in Joshua x. 13. and 2 Sam. i. 18. ; and he attributes the dii^
ierence in names and genealogies observable in various parts of Scrip*
ture, to the number of copies whence these numerations were made*
Cahnet further considers the notice of a battle fought during the so-
journing of the Israelites in Egypt, which occurs in 1 Chron. vil.
20—22, as derived from the same source. The hypothesis of Vi«
tringa and Calmet has been adopted in this country by the learned
editor of StacKhouse's history of the Bible ; who, regarding the cur-
rent opinion of the late invention of writing as a vulgar error, thinks
it probable that the posterity of Shem, and perhaps also of Japheth,
kept regular records of all the remarkable events that occurred, as
well as memoirs of all those members of their several families who
were distinguished for virtue and knowledge ; and that there is no
reason to suppose that similar records were not kept, in some fami-
lies at least,' before the flood. Dr. Gleig further conceives that the art
of writing was communicated among others to Noah and his sons
by their antediluvian ancestors, and that it has never since been whol-
ly lost; and that if this were the case, there probably were in the
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&iiuly of Abraham books of Jasher, or annab commencing from
the beginning of the world ; and if so, Moaes might have found in
them an account of the erents which conatitute the anbject of the
book of Genesis.
On the continent this hypothesis was adopted by M« Astmc, who
fmcied that he discover^ traces of twehe different ancient documents,
from which the earlier chapters of Exodus, as well as the entire book
of Genesis, are compiled. These, however, were reduced by Eich-
hom to two in number, which he affirins may be distinguished by the
appellations of Elohim and Jehovah given to the Almighty. The
• hypothesis of Eichhom is adopted by Rosenmliller, (from whom it
.was borrowed by the late Dr. Geddes,) and is partially acceded to by
Jahn. To this hypothesis there is but one objection, and we appre-
hend it is a fatal' one ; namely, the total silence of Moses as to any
documenti consulted by him. He has, it is true, referred in Num-
bers xxL 14. to the Book of the wars of the Lord ;'* but if he had
copied from any previously existing memoirs into the book of Gene-
sis, is it likely that such an historian, every p^ of whose writings is
stamped with every possible mark of authenticity and integrity, would
have omitted to specify the sources whence he derived his history !
Should the reader, however, be disposed to adopt the bypothesis of
Yifringa and Calmet, without the refinements of Eiechhom and his
followers, this wilT not in the smallest degree detract from the
genuineness of the book of Genesis. It was undoubtedly composed
by Moses, and it has been received as his by his countrymen in all
ages. But it is not necessary to suppose that he received by inspira-
tion an account of facts which he might easily have obtained by
natural means. Ail that is necessary to believe is, that the Spirit of
God directed him in the choice of the facts recorded in this work,
enabled him to represent them without partiality, and preserved him
from being led into mistakes by any inaccuracy that might have fbund
its way into the annals which he consulted. << If this be admitted, it
is of no consequence whether Moses compiled the book of Genesis
from annals preserved in the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or
wrote the whole of it by immediate inspiration ; for, on either suppo-
sition, it is a narrative of divine authority, and contains an authentic
account of facts which constitute the foundation of the Jewish and
Christian religions, or to use more accurate language, the one great
but progressive scheme of revealed religion.*'
A certain class of Infidels urge that no dependence is to be placed
in the text of the Old Testament Scriptures, seeing that they have for
t2
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$46 CXBDIBILITY AND ANTIQinTT OF
wmaj eentmrim heea oopiad from age to age, and finom manuscript to
mannacript; and the result, say they, is, that it has been foond dut
the yariations of the manuscript have been at least tkirty thouiond.
Had this objection been made in the days of Anthony Collins and tlM
Free-thinkers, to reply might have caused some degree of embarrass-
mrat, because the field was then unexplored, and the facts were not
completely developed. But since that period those who have investi-
gated this objection have been enabled to pronounce it but a vain pre*
text,* and the rationalists themselves have acknowledged that it must
be renounced. Recent scientific researches have placed the faithful-
ness with which the Scriptures have been transmitted to us in a
strong lii^t. Herculean labors have been pursued during the last
century, to reunite all the varialions which could be furnished by the
detailed examination of. all the manuscript Scriptures preserved in the
several libraries of Europe, by the study of the oldest versions, by a
oomparison of the idhumerable quotations of the sacrdd books in all
the writings of the Christian fathers ; '* and this immense labor,'* says
the learned Gaussen, " has exhibited a result admirable for its insignifi-
cance-imposing, shall I say, by its diminutiveness."
Father Houbigant indefatigably labored in this investigation, and
the result was four folio volumes. John Henry Michaelis devoted
thirty years to the same study. The famous Kennitott spent ten
yearr in the study of five hundred and eighty-one Hebrew manu-
scripts. • And finally Professor Rossi collected six hundred and
eighty manuscripts of the Old Testament writings. And the result of
these prodigious labors is, that the hopes of'the enemies of Revelation
from this quarter have been overthrown. Michaelis says, «< They
have thenceforward ceased to hope any thing from these critical
resefffches, at first earnestly recommended by them, because from
them they had expected discoveries which no one has made.** It
appears that the learned rationalist, Eichhom, himself also acknow-
ledges that the di£Rerent readings of the Hebrew manuscripts collected
by Kennicott offer scarcely sufficient compensation for the labor they
have cost. M. Gaussen, to whom we are indebted for the substance
of these remarks, says, <* These very failure^, and this absence of dis-
coveries, have been for the church of God a precious discovery. She
looked for it ; but she rejoices to owe it' to the very labors of her
enemies, and to the labors which they designed for the overthrow of
her faith.*' ** In truth,*' says a learned man of our day, << if we ex-
cept these brilliant negative conclusions to which diey have come,
the direct result obtained by so many lives of men consumed in these
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THE OLD TBSTAMBNT SCRIPTUBBB. 147
iflnineiiBe researohesy appears to be a nullity; and we m^ht aay, thai
time, talent, and acience, have been fooHahly spent in arriying tiiere.**
But, we repeat, this result is immense by iti nothingness, and
afanighty in its impotence. When we reflect that the Bible has been
copied dsoring three thousand years, as no book of human composition
has e?er been, and will never be ; that it has undei^fone all the catas-
trophes and all the captivities of Israel ; that it has been transported
fin: seventy years into Babylmi ; that it has seen itself so oflen perse*
CQted or forgotten,, so interdicted or burned, from^ the days of the
Philistines 1o those of the Seiacide; when we reodlect, that since
ihe days of onr Saviour, it has had to traverse the first three centuries
of imperial persecutions, when they threw to the wiM beasts the men
that were convicted of possessing the sacred books ; then the seventh,
dghth, and ninth centuries, when f9l8e books, false legends, and
fidse decretals, were every where multiplied; the tenth century, when
so few men could read, even among the princes; the twelfth, thir-
teenth, and fourteenth centuries, when the use pf the Scriptures in the
language of the people was punished with death ; when they mutOated
the books of the old fathers ; when they retrenched and falsified so
many ancient traditions, and the very acts of emperors, and those of
oouneilfl: then we understand how necessary it has been that the
pipvidence of God should always have held its powerful hand out-
stretched, to hinder, on the one side, the Jewish church from impair-
ing the integrity of that word which recounts their revolts, which pre*
diets their ruin, which describes Jesus Christ; and on the other, to
seeure the transmission to us in all their purity, by the Christian
churches, (the most powerful sects of which, and especially the tUh
man, have prohibited to the people the reading of the St^riptures, and
have in so many wajv substituted the traditions of the middle ages for
the word of God,) of those Scriptures which' condemn all their tradi-
tions, *^ir images, their dead languages, their absolutions, their
eelibacy ; which say of Rome, that she shall be the seat of a frightful
apostasy, where shall be seen ** the man of sin, sitting as God in the
temple of God, making war oh the saints, forbidding to marry, and
commanding from meats which God has made ;*' which say of images,
**ihou 'shalt not worship them;** of unknown tongues, «'thou shalt
not use diem;'* of the cup, "drink ye all of it;** of the Virgin,
*« woman, what have I to, do with thee!** and of murriage, "it is
honorable in aU.**
Now, althbuf^ all die libraries cpntaining ancient copies of the sa-
oed books have beeb called to testify ; although the elucidations given
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ne CBSDIBILITT AND ANTIQUITT OF
by the fathers of all ages have been stadied ; although the Arabicy
Syriac, Latin, Annenian, and Ethiopie veraions have been collated ;
although all the manuscripts of all countries and ages, from 4he third
to the sixteenth century, have been collected and exaiiiined a tfiousand
times, by innumerable critips who sought with ardor, and as the
recompense and glory of their fatiguing vigils, some new text; al-
though the learned men, not satisfied with die libraries of the West,
have visited those of Russia, and carried their researches even to the
convents of Mount Athos, of Asiatic Turkey and of Egypt, to search
there for new copies of the sacred text; «<they have discovered no-
thing," says a learned writer ahready quotecl, <* not even a solitary
reading which could cast doubt upon any passage before considered
certain. Ail the variations, almost without exception, leave untouched
the essential thoughts of each phrase, and affect only points of second-
ary impdrtance," such as the insertion or omission of an article or
a conjunction, the posidon of an adjective before or aAer a substan-
tive, the greater or less exactness of a grammatical construction.
Do we ask for a st^dard for the Old Testament? The famous
Indian manuscript, recently deposited in the library of Cambridge, may
furnish an examjple. It is now about thirty-three years since the pious
and learned Claudius Buchanan^ in visiting the western peninsula of
India, saw in the hands of the black Jews of Malabar, (believed to be
the remnants of the tribes scattered at Nebuchadnezzar's first inva-
sion,) an immense scroll composed of thirty-seven skins, died red,
forty-eight feet long, twenty-two inches wide, and which, in its per-
fect condition, must have been ninety English feet long. The Hdy
Scriptures had been copied on it by different hands. There were led
a hundred and seventeen columns of beautiful writing'; and nothing
was wanting but Leviticus and a part of Deuteronomy. Buchanan
procured this ancient and precious monument which had been used
in the worship of the synagogue, and he has recently deposited it in
the Cambridge library. There are features which give satisfactory evi-
dence that it was not a copy of a copy brought there by European
Jews. Now Mr. Yeates has recently examined it with great atten.
tion, and has taken the pains to compare it, word for word, letter for
letter, with our Hebrew edition of Van der HooghL He has pub-
lished the results of these researches. And what has he found ? Even
this ; << that there do not exist between the text of India and that of the
West more than forty petty differences, of which not one is sufficiently
serious to make the slightest change' in the meaning and in the inter«
pretation of our ancient text ; and that these forty differences consist
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TH£ OLD TESTAMENT 8CBIFTUSE8L SI9
in the addition or Tetrenchment of an » or a v, letters whose presence
or absence in Hebrew cannot change the power of a word. We know
who were the Masorites, or teachers of tradition among the JewSy
men whose whole profession consisted in copying the Scriptures; we
know how far these men, learned in minutiae, carried their respect for
the letter; and when we read the rules of their profession, we under-
stand the use which the providence of God, who had confided his
oracles to the Jewish people, knew how to make of their reverence,
of their rigor, and even of their superstition. They counted in eadi
book, the number of the verses, that of the words, that of the letters;
they would have said to you, for example,' that the letter a recurs
for^-two thousand three hundred and seventy-seven times in the
Bible; the letter b^ thirty-eight diousand two hundred and eighteen
times; and so of the rest; they would have scrupled to change the
situation of a letter evidently misplaced, they would merely have adr
vised yon of it in the margin, and have suppose^ that some mystery
was connected with it ; they could have told you the middle letter of
the Pentateuch, and the middle letter of eadi of the books that com-
pose it; they would never suffer an erasure to be made in their manu-
scripts ; and if any mistake was made in copying, they would reject
the pap3nra8 or the skin which was stained, to renew their work upon
another scrdl ; for they were equally forbidden to correct a fault, and
to preserve for their sacred scroll, a parchment or a skin that had
oodergone any erasure.*
* Gii^puMn «a tlw Iiifpi»tion of the Scriptoras.
36
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iM OBIBOnONS STATED AND AN0WEBED.
CHAPTER V.
OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
Hayino, by dear endence and plain reaaoninf , prorad die eredn
biiity and antiquity of the Old Testament Seriptares, the subject
might be safely left with the candi^ and holiest reader. But as a
number of objections urged by Infidels, have necessarily been o*
mitted ; that every weapon of the enemy may be wrested from him»
it may be well, before passing to the consideration of the claims of
the New Testament Scriptures, first to notice the most important of
these objections.
Mr. Olmsted maintains, that the writer of the firtt chapter of the
book of Oenesis must have been a polytheist ; he says : « This ta
apparent from the translation, as we have it, << Let tit make man in
our image ;" but the most decisive expression is, •< behold the man is
become as one of us." You tell us that the doctrine of the trinity is
taught here, but you have no more authority for saying that the doc-
trine of three in one is here taught, ^an of fifty in one. The author
does not say how many there were of tit ; for Trinitarian^ do not
say tit or themf and you dare not say one of diem, or one of ta,
when speaking of either person of what you call your Godhead, for
fear of incurring the charge of polytheism from your opponents, the
Unitarians. It is folly to deny that the expression imports plurality.
If an individual should hold to me the foUowing language, «' we did
all we could to thwart his views and mar his prospects, for fear he
would become as rich as one of us," I should be very much surpris-
ed, and so would yod, if that individual should tell me, that he had
been talking about his individual self, and intended to include no
other. It would certainly be taking an unwarrantable liberty with
language. If the expression " one of us," conveys the idea of unity,
or does not convey that of plurality, the Bible, which you say is a
Revelation from God, must be the most unintelligible book in the
world— must be any thing but a revelation..
One reason you assign, (though your God no where assigns it, nor
the author for him) why all throe of the persons in your trinity were
required to make man, is, that he was the masterpiece of God's
workmanship ; that God the Father aloru could make the sun, moon,
and stars ; but when he wished to make mant he called upon the
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OBJECTIONS STATBB AND ANSWERED. MI
Other two* Hence, the expression «< let tit make man/' yon intimate»
if not directly assert, is found but in this place, in the btok. of Qevf
ens. Yon certainly must forget that this God of Genesis is repre-
sented as going down to Babel to see what the Babelites were doing,
and when starting, as sajdng to the persons of his court, *'Let us go
down, and there confound their language." Here was an event ac-
cording to your own reasoning, Iw important as the creation of man,
and much more so than the creation of this and all other worids.
The serpent is also made to say, «< Ye shall be as GKmIs,'* and he is
good authority ; at least the author is responsible in this particular for
what he puts in the mouth of this dramatis persons. Add to all
this, the Hebrew schdars tell us that the first Terse should lead,
«« In the beginning the God$ made the heaven and the earth." The
writer therefore must hare been a polytheist But the author of E]^
odufl, and the other books of the Pentateudi, must have been a mono-
thetst There are no we* 9 and U8*$ in reference to God in them, but
it 1$ throughout /and me. <« I am that I amis my name ;" <*say
Aat / am hath sent me unto you ;" « thou shalt hare no other Grod
before me;" *« see now that I — ,■ I am he, and there ii no other Gdd
widi me," are expressions decisive of this point"
BIr. Olmsted here sajrs, that we are informed by Hebrew scholars,
the first verse of the book of Genesis should read, '* In the beginning
the Ood$ made the heaven and the earth." So far is this from being
true, all commentators are agreed that the passage should be render-
ed, ** In the beginning €hd created" not the .keaver^ but *< the hea^
vene and the earth." It is true that the original word used to signify
the Deity, is in the plural form ; but it is joined to a verb in die singu-
lar nnmber, and consequently implies plurality in tinity. Dr. Clarke,
commenting on the passage, says, <«The original word Elohimt
Ood, IS certainly the plural form of £, otEhahf pnd has long been
sopposed by the most eminently learned and pious men, to imply a
pbtraHty of persons in the Djvine Nature. As this plurality appears
in so many parts of the sacred writings, to .be confined to three per-
sons, hence the doctrine of the Trinity, which has f6rmed a part of
ikd creed of all those who have been deemed sound in the fidth, from
the earliest ages of Christianity. Nor are the Christiana singular in
receiving this doctrine, ^uid in deriving it from the first words of di-
vine Revelation. An eminent Jewish rabbin, Simeon ben Joachi, in
his comment on the sixth section of Leviticus, has these remarkal^
words : ** Come and see ihe mystery of the wordElohim ; there are
ikree degrees^ and eaeh degree by itself alone^ and yet, notwithstand-
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969 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
mg they are all one» and joined together in one^ and are not divided
from each other."— See Ainsworth. He must be strangely prejudice
ed indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a
Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words. The verb barOt
he created, beingjoined in the singular number with ^s plural noun,
has been considered as pointing out, and not obscurely, ^e tmity of
the divine persons in Hob work of creation. In the ever blessed
Trinity, from the infinite and indiv^ible unity of the persons, there
can be but one will, one purpose, and one infinite and uiicontroUable
energy.*'*
Mr. Olmsted frirthor maintains that the writer of die first chapters of
Genesis must have believed Qod to have been a corporelil being. He
■ays: "He (Moses) most assuredly intends to tell us that God was
in human shiqpe. His God must have been corporeal. His notion was
that God was' a very great man. He tells us also that God created man
in his likeness, and then tells us that Adam begat Seth in his likeness.
If Seth was like Adam, which you will admit, then Adam must have
been in tfie lik^iess of God. If you still insist that die first and fifth
dlapters were written by the same person, this argument is still sting-
er, for the phraseology is the same throughout; the words likeness and
image, being used in both cases. The first chapter has it, " Let us
make man in our own image, after our likeness." The fiitti has it,
^ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years and begat a son in his
own likeness, after his image." Mr. O. also says : *< The second
veree of the fourth chapter is direct and positive to the point, that his
God was a huge man ; for he tells us he had sons who cohabited with
women, aye, and married them and begat giants." This obj^ion
has already been noticed in the section on the style of the Scripftires,
but it may be well here to give it a further notice. '
That he who, in the very first sentence of his writings, aims a
deadi-blow at the polytheism which universally obtained in the age in
which he lived, viewed the Creator of the heavene and the earth as a
corporeal being, is an impossibility. The evident meaning of Moses
thsrefore is, that the image and likeness are intellectual. The mind,
or sold of Adam, was formed after the nature and perfections of
God. The human mind is still endowed with extraordinary capaci^
ties ; it was and must have been more so when first created. The
Infidel who does not believe in the existence of mind or soul may not
a|^>reciate the saying, " it is the mind which mal^ the man ;" nevei^
* Cladce*s CommenturieB, toL i, pp. 86» S6L
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 358
theless, it is not the less troe on that account ; and God is here rep-
resented as producing a spirit or mind formed ailer the perfections of
his own nature, and in language suited to the capacities of those, es«
pecially those of primitive times ; it is said, ** God breathed into his
(Adam>) nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living sotd.**
In this passage God is represented as forming the body of man out of
the dust ; but the soul or mind is represented as having proceeded from
God himself. God is the fountain whence the spirit of man issued,
iod the stream must resemble the fountain. Ged is holy, just, wise,
good, and perfect ; so must the soul be that sprang from him. The
90td of- man, therefore, was created after tl^e image of God, which
Paul tells us << consisted in righteousness and true holiness." There-
fore, when man was created, he was wise in his mind, holy in his
heart, and righteous in his actions, and this is the dictate of reason
and common sense.
Where it is said) *< Adam begat a son in his likeness, after his own
iniage«" the evident meaning is, that this son of Adam was not in the
image and likeness of God, after which Adam was created. He by
his (all lost that image ; he had become imperfect, sinful, corrupt, and
mortal ; therefore it was impossible for him to beget a pure and holy
offspring, unless it is possible (or a bitter fountain to send fqrdi
sweet waters ; or that a cause can produce effects totally dissimilar
from itself. Seth, therefore, was^begotten in the image and likeness
of his father, Adam ; 1. e. imperfect^ sinful, corrupt, and jnortal ; and
ike reason for the passage here objected to by Mr. O. is obvious ;
from Seth through Noah, all the human family are descended, and
the obvious and natural inference to be drawn from what is here said»
is, that all men are affected by that moral taint which Seth received
from his father, Adam.
Had Mr. Olmsted consulted some Hebrew scholar, he might have
learned that the last clause of the 26th verse of chapter iv. where it
is said, *' Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord," in the
original, signifiea that they called upon the name of the Lord in an
idolatrous manner. .So that here we have an account of the origin of
idolatry. The sons of God, signify the true worshipers of God, by
which term they ave distinguished from the sons of Gain, who were
idolaters. This is not the only passage of the Scriptures in which
the true worshipers of God are thus denominated : they are so called
in Job, chapter i. verse 6 ; ii. verse 1 ; xxxviii. verse 7 ; Hosea, i.
▼erse 10 ; John, i. verse 12 ; and in many other places. In the pas-
sage objected against by Mr. O. we are informed that the sons of God,
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264 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
or his true worshiperB, being taken with the beauty of the daogfaten
of the idolaters, the descendants of Cain, made matches with them,
thereby they were corrupted, and the result was, thM all manner of
impiety, impurity, and violence filled the whole earth. • This Moses
here notijces that he might giye the reason why the whole posterity of
Seth, except Noah and his family, were destroyed by the deluge as
well as the race of Cain, for they had defiled themselYes with their
affinity and were corrupted by their yicious practices. It may be
objected that this does not remoye the difficulty prefen^ by Mr. O.
when he says, these sons of God begat giants ; but there is no such
statement in the Scriptures. The language is, '* There were giants in
the earth in those days ; and also after that^ when the sons of God
came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children unto them,
the same became mighty ihen, which were of old, men of renown.''
The giaqts therefore are not represented as the fruits of these mar-
riages, but the mighty men, the meli of renown. Dr. Clarke informs
us that by the term giants, is meant <* those who had apostatized, or
fallen from the true religion." The original word, which is trandated
giani$i is nephilim, according to Dr. Clarke derived from naphal^
*« befell,'^ He further informs us, that by following the Septuagint
our translators render the •* term g%ant$, without any reference to the
meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons
of enormauM $tature.^ But t|ie word, when properly understood,
makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons
of God ; these were thd nephUim^ the fallen earlMofn men, with
the animal and devilish mind. Those were the som ef God, who
were bom from abdve ; children of the kingdom, because children of
God." He also says, *< It may be necessary to remark here, that our
translators have rendered seven diffierent Hebrew words by the one
term gianti, viz. nepkilim, gibborimj enachim, rephazmt emimt and
zamzummim; by which appellatives are probably meant in general,
persons of great knowledge, piety, courage, wickedness, ^., and not
men of enormous stature, as is generally conjectured."''
Some of the statements conc^Vning Cain have been urged by Infi*
dels, as affording evidence that the Mosaic writings are unworthy of
credit. The narrative of the rejection of his offering and the accept-
ance of that of Abel, say they, is a silly fable, and is disparaging to
the character of God. This difficulty will vanish when the nature
and design of the sacrifices are considered, which were euehari$ticalf
* Dk AdttD Claike in kw.
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 255
and expiatory; the former consisted of the fruits of the earth, and
iras simply an offering of gratitude; by this offering Cain acknow*
lodged God as Uie Lord of the universe and the dispenser of secular
blessings; but he offered no Expiatory sacrifice, which consisted in. a
living animal, the life of which God accepted instead of that of the
offender ; the crime of Cain consisted in his refusal to acknowledge
he was a sinner, therefore his offering was rejected.
Dr. Keniycot^ eontends that the original, which oar translators ren-
der Jibtl^ he alio brought of the firstlings of his fiock, should have
been rendered, Mel brought it also^ «' th&t is, the gratitude offering;
and beside this he brought also the first bom of his flock,*' and it was
by this alone he acknowledged himself a sinner and expressed his
faith in the promised Messiah. Hence the meaning of that passage,
ehap. iv. 7, *' If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? And
if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the^door:" evidently is. If thou art
60 righteous as to need no atoning sacrifice, thou shouldst be accept-
ed ; as thou art not, sin will lay in the way, till thou hast removed it
by an atoning sacrifice or sin-ofiSering.
It is also objected to the Mosaic narrative, that Cain is represented
as being afraid that some one would kill him ; which, say they, was
an ii^poesibility, seeing that according to Moses he and his father
Adam were the only men then upon the earth. It should be observ-
ed that the death of Abel took place in the one hundred and twenty
eighth or one hundred and twenty-ninth year from the creation of Ad-
am. Now supposing that Adam and Eve had no other sons than
Cain and Abel at that period, yet as, they had daughters married to
these sons, their descendants must have been numerous. Supposing
them to have been married in the nineteenth year from the creation
of Adam and Eve, they might have had eignt children by the twenty-
fifUi year; in the fiftieth year, there might have' been sixty-four per-
sons upon the earth ; in the ninety-eighth, four thousand and ninety-
six: and in the one hundred and twenty-second year they would
amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight If to
these we add the other children descended from Cain and Abel, their
children and their children's children, we shall have in the aforesaid
one hundred and twenty-eight years, four hundred and twenty thou-
sand one hundred and sixty-four men, without reckoning the womeuf
or such as are under the age of seventeen.
Against this it may be urged, that there is no evidence that the an-
tediluvians began to have children before they were sixty'five years
of age. Granting this- to be true, yet even according to the supposi-
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256 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
tion that they had no children before they had reached that age, which
however is extremely improbable, yet, in the year one hundred and
thirty of the world, there must have been a number sufficient to
fpund several villages, and to excite 4he apprehensions under which
Cain is represented at this time to. have labored.*
The passage, <* Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, 'and
dwelt in the land of Nod," has been construed into an intimation that
he removed to a country inhabited by men who did not belong to th6
family of Adam. But Dr. Clarke informs us, that Nod signifies the
same as Nad^ a vagabond; and eminent commentators render the
passage, " And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord^from
the east of JEden^ and dwelt a vagabond on the earth.^^ The book
of Jasher has it, ** Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from
the place where he was, and he went moving and wandering in the
land towards the east of Eden, he and all belonging to him." Al-
though this book is not of divine authority, yet as it bears evident
marks of having been written long before the destruction of Jerusalem,
the passage shows what was the understanding ef the ancient Jews
on this subject.
Infidels cavil. at the curse pronounced by NOah upon Canaan, the
son of Ham, and represent it as idle language spoken tnder the im-
pulse of momentary irritation, exhibiting the innocent as sufifering for
the guilty, and therefore unworthy of a place in a book professing to
be a revelation from God. There is nothing in the narrative that
warrants the belief that the curse pronounced upon Canaan was.tlve
result of irritation. The details given by Moses are very brief, and
although the account of Noah's blessings and curses are subjoined to
the history of his exposure, we are no more bound to believe that the
one event occurred immediately upon the other, than the planting of
the vineyard and the distiUing of the wine were both the operations
of a single day. Noah's conduct, no. doubt, corresponded with that
of Jacob towards his sons, whom he blessed before his death. More-
over, Ham deserved a severe rebuke, and the curse pronounced by
Noah fell upon the offender himself. Whatever might have been^ the
character of Ham, the vices of Uie Canaanites could not but be their
plague. The wretched slavery of that people was not inflicted in
consequence of their father's crime, but their slavery was foretold as
a punishment on their ancestor, who, had he been a good and right-
eous man, might have been spared the foresight of so much misery.
____— '
* Sm Dodd and Adam Glarice, in loo.
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 257
It is wen for a father's peace that he does not know what his sons
will jei suffer on account of their wickedness. Milton makes hif
Adam cry,
«0, visions ill fojeMen! • • •
* * * Let no man seek
Henceforth to be foretold what shall be&ll
Him or his children. EtU, he may be 80X6,
Whidi neither his foreknowledge can prevent:
And he the futore evil shall no less
In af^hension than in substance fyd,
' Grievous to bear."
For Shem and Japheth to know that their own piety and obedience
should be in a manner perpetuated to their descendants was a reward
for their dutiful rererence to their father; and it was Ham and Ca-
naan's curse to be foretold that their descendants would be unhappy
slaves. So that both the blessings and the curse fell' upon the heads
of those that desenred them.
Infidels sneer at the account given by Moses of the building of the
tower of Babel, its design^ and above all the diversity of languages,
which last, say they, can be easily accounted for by natural causes. In
a previous section of this work a sufficiency of collateral testimony has
been adduced to convince every unbiassed mind of the actual existence
of the tower of Babel, and that it was built at the time specified by
Moses. Infidels affect to understand' Moses as intimating that the de-
sign of the builders of this tower was that thereby mankind might be
enabled to ascend Up into heaven ; and this they infer from the words,
** And they said. Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top
may reach unto heaven." It should be observed, that the language
of the Scripture is frequently figurative, even when it describes his-
torical events, and that the expression, ** whose top may reach to
heaven," even if the rendering of the passage be correct, need not be
understood literally, for elsewhere the same kind of language is employ-
ed with reference to cities of Canaan, and evidently to denote no more
than that they were surrounded with lof\y, and probably strong walls.
Mr. Hutchinson, a critical Hebrew scholar of the last century, main
tained, that the design of the builders was to erect a temple for the
worship of the host of heaven; and in support of this interpretation,
he says that ^^verosho bash shamayim** should be . translated, not
whose top may reach unto heaven, as there iis nothing for may reach
in the Hebrew, but Us head or summit to the heavens, i. e. to the
heavenly bodies : and, to confirfn the truth of his position, he says,
that previously to this time the descendants of Noah were all agreed
w2 83
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258 OBJECnONB STATED AND ANSWEBBD.
in one fonn of religious worship ; and the reason he assigns for dii4 ,
is, that rezaphah achath signifies and of one lip. According to hira
they hadone litany^ and as God confounded their litany, they hegan
to disagree in their religious opinions, and branched out into sects and
parties, each associating with those of his own sentiment, and thus
their tower or temple was led unfinished.
Archbishop Tennison, and many other able writers, have also
maintained that the tower of Babel served the double purposes of a
place of defence, and a temple. The archbishop contends that the
shape of the edifice was pyramidical, and that it was so formed in
order to assimilate it to the flame, which always ascends conieally ;
and that it was erected in honor of the sun, as the god who dried up
the waters of the great flood ; there is at least nothing improbable in
this ; and as Nimrod was the founder of the Zabian idolatry, as all
antiquity seems to indicate, the notion is highly probable.
Dr. Clarke, in his notes on the passage in question, says, <* It is
probable that their being of one language and one speech^ impUes
not only a sameness of language, but also a unity of sentiment and
design, as seems pretty clearly intimated in chap. xi. verse 6. Being
therefore strictly united in all things, coming to the fertile plains of
Shinar, they prepared to settle themselves there, instead of spreading
themselves over all the countries of the earth, according to the design
of God ; and in reference to this purpose they encouraged one ano-
ther to build a tower, probably a temple^ to prevent their separation,
<* lest," sa]^ they, " we be scattered abroad upon the face of t^e whole
earth ;*' but God, miraculously interposing, confounded or frustrated
their rebellious design, which was inconsistent with his will; (see
D.eut xxxii. 8. ; Acts xvii. 26,) and partly by cpnfounding their lan«
guage, and disturbing their counsels, they could no longer keep in a
united state ; so that agreeing on nothing but the necessity of a sepo'
ration, they went ofl" in diflerent directions, and thus became scat-
tered abroad upon the face of the earth.*'
We come now to the last objection, viz., the denouncing the idea
that a diversity of language was originally brought about by a mira-
cle. The whole of the arguments against the Mosaic account,
amount simply to this, that the cause of the variety of languages in
the world is grounded in reason and nature ; in the difference of cli-
mates ; in the unsettled temper of mankind ; in the necessary mutabili-
ty of sublunary things; in the rise and fall of empires ; in that constant
change, in short, which is continually going on throughout the whole
compass of human affairs. Therefore, it is useless to have recourse to
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 259
Diindes in a case where it is evident no miracle is necessary, for it is
only necessary to suppose that all languages sprang from one common
root, and that they are no more than different forms or dialects of the
same tongue, which the lapse of time, assisted by certain individual
causes, has produced.
However plausible this theory may appear, to say nothing of other
grounds of objection, it seems scarcely to be supported by experi-
ence. Not to affix a higher value than they deserve, to the numer-
ous, and as it were radical contrarieties, which abound between the
constitution of the eastern and western and the northern tongdes, it
may be oibserved that languages vary but litde, even in the lapse of
many centuries, unless those who speak them be either over-run, or
drawn into close and intimate connexion with states which employ
other languages. The Roman language, for example, was brpught to
considerable perfection before the time' of Plautus; and though some
obsolete wdrds may occasionally appear in his writings, yet any
msfi who understands Latin, may read with ease every work which
appeared in that lailguage, from the days of Plautus down to the time
of Theodoric the Goth ; this comprises a period of no less than sev-
en hundred years, and but for the interruption of the barbarians from
the north, there is litde doubt but that the Latin would have contin-
ued unchanged during many ages after. It may also be safely asserts
ed, that had not tRe Turks when they overran Greece, brought dark-
ness and ignorance along with them, the Greek might have continued
to this day, much as it w^ in the days of Homer, since we see from
that port's works, and the commentaries of Eustathius upon them,
that it remained for upwards of two thousand years without undergo-
ing any material alteration* On the supposition that all mankind
made use of the same language from the beginning, and .that no mi-
raculous interference has taken place in order to confound it, it would
be impossible to account for the first origin of these dialects, which
we find corrupting and. introducing varieties into others. A mere
change of place will not cause language radically to change, unless it
be aided by otheir causes; for it is known that the Greeks of Asia
Minor spoke a dialect of the same language that was spoken by the
Greeks of Europe. The French of Louisiana speak a dialect of
the same language with the French of Paris. Few expressions are
.used in this country, which are not employed in the vicinity of Lon-
don. Therefore there must have been more than a natural cause for
the diversity of speech, which we find among men ; and that cause is
satisfactorily stated only in the book of Genesis.
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260 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
But from what has been said it is not to be nndentood that GUxl
obliterated in a moment all trace of the original language from the
minds of those who were engaged in building the tower of Babel,
and that there was substituted in its room other languages differing
radically abd entirely from one another. Moses by no means asserts
this, but the text implies ihit God interposed, not with the formation
or ground-work of the language, but with the articulation of those
who employed it; and improper articulation renders a language quite
as unintelligible to those by whom it is spoken correctly, as if the
language itself were absolutely strange to them ; and among persons
of the violent and irrascible temper which seems to have possessed
the builders of Babel, such misunderstandings would soon lead to
quarrels. That changes in the pronunciation of the original language
were produced by divine interference cannot well be doubted; and as
such a commencement would gradually lead to greater and more im-
portant contrarieties, it sufficiently accounts for facts which without it
must be absolutely inexplicable. It does not follow from the state-
ment of Moses, that four or five original tongues must ^11 have start-
ed up in a moment. The different nations which were settled in the
vicinity of the original seat of mankind, whether descended from
Ham, Shem, or Japheth, all spoke languages, which at an era far re-
4noved from the time of the dispersion, were essentially the same.
Therefore it must be obvious that the Mosaic history deserves impli-
cit credit, for it satisfactorily accounts for a phenomena inexplicable
without it, and yet it asserts no more than what the experience of ev-
ery man may confirm.*
To all that has been stated it may be replied, that language is a hu-
man invention, and that the nations of the earth from the beginning
have spoken different languages. It is maintained that both oral and
written language is to be attributed to a supernatural revelation ; for
how could man himself have invented articulate speech ? Nothing
is more evident than that children Team to speak by imitation ; and
where there is no opportunity of imitation, the use of articulate
speech cannot be acquired ; and the reason is obvious, for its struc-
ture is too complicated and artificial. Therefore a previous use of
language must have been indispensably necessary, in order to the con-
struction of the most simple language of the most barbarous tribes.
Besides, if language be a human invention, how comes it to pass that
the oldest languages are more complete in their structure than those
• Sed Dr. Gleig^s History of the Bible.
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0BJECTI0N8 STATED AND ANSWERED. 261
which have been more recently formed.* And why, at we mark the
progress of improvement, are we not carried back to some early and
rode state o£ this invention ? Its use is so necessary, and the difficul-
ty of forming it so obvious, that the very nature of the case should
convince us that language must be of divine origin, and that convio-
tion must be confirmed by a perusal of the Mosaic history, for theire
we learn that laws were given to the progenitors of the human race
through the medium of language. Dr. Spring says, « That the re-
searches of the most accredited philologists go far to support this
opinion. The more criticaUy modern as well as ancient languages
are inyestigated, the more are they found to resemble each other kt
their roots and primary forms, and the more clearly are referable to
one common stock. The languages which, prevailed in all the south
of Europe, after the destruction of the Roman empire, were a bar-
barous mixture of the Latin with the different languages of the north-
em invaders. The modem languages of Europe h^ve all evidently
been derived from the Roman — ^the Roman from the Greek — and the
Greek from the Phenician. Goguet, in his origin of laws, arts and
sciences, remai^ that <« the comparison of the Phenician and Greek
alphabet would alone be sufficient to convince us of this. It is visi-
ble that the Greek characters are only the Phenician letters turned
from right to left" Authorities might be greatly multiplied to show
^t the Phenicians spoke a dialect of the Hebrew. The Chaldee,
Syriac, and Samaritan are also dialects of the Hebrew without any
considerable deviation, or many additional words.
There is a striking similarity also between the Ethiopic and the
Hebrew ; between the Hebrew, the Arabic and the Persic. There are
strong analogies between the Sanscrit and the Hebrew, and between
the Hebrew and the Coptic ; while the Coptic is identified with the
ancient Egyptian. Dr. Lightibot, whom Adam Clarke pronounces to
have been the first scholar in Europe, is of opinion that the original
tongue was Hebrew ;-lkat thb was the language spoken in Canaan
before the time of Joshua ; that it was the language of Adam and the
language of God. God, says he, was the first founder of it" t
Connected With the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, is the
narrative of Lot's wife being converted into a pillar of salt. Infidels
have sneered at this, and they maintain that a book containing such a
* Sir W. Jones says of the Arabic language; *< As it is unquestionably one of the
most ancient in the world, so it yields to none ever spoke^ hj mortals m the num-
ber of its words and the precision of its phrases."
f Dr. Spring's Obligation of the World to the Bible.
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202 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
statement cannot be a revelation from Qod. It is conceded that
many ridiculous opinions, both in ancient and modem times, have
been advanced on the manner in which the change was effected.
Some have even pretended to have seen her as a heap of salt: others
as a complete human being as to shape and proportion of parts, but
only petrified^ The statement of Moses is veiy short, and the Lord
Jesus Christ endorsed his vera)city by a reference to the judgmeht in-
flicted upon her, as a warning to the disobedient and backsliding.
Luke xvii. 32. ** Remember Lot's wife.**
That God could, in a moment, convert this disobedient woman into
9l pillar or mass of salt or any other substance^ no one who believes
that there is a Ood can deny : or that by persisting in remaining in
that place until the brimstone and fire descended from heaven sh0
might be struck dead taith lightnings and indurated and petrified
is not impossible. Moreover, the term, pillar of salt, may be designed
to be understood tnetaphoricaUy^ and that this was the design of Mo-
ses, appears from the fact that the term salt is often used in the Scrip-
tures as an emblem of incorruption, durability, ^. A perpetual cove-
nant is called a covenant of salt. In Numbers xviii. 19, it is said, ** It
is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy
seed with thee." So that the meaning of Moses is that Lot's wife
was converted into an everlasting monument against unbelief and dis-
obedience.
The conduct of Lot, both in Sodom and after his escape, Infidels
assert was both immoral and incestuous, therefore it is disparaging to
the moral character of God 'to represent such an one as he, as a
servant of the Most High. But his conduct in "both of the instances
objected against may be readily explained. His strange offer with
respect to his daughters^ is to be accounted for from the considerations
that the rights of hospitality among eastern nations were held most
sacred ; he who had taken a stranger tinder his roof was bound to
defend him at the expense of his own life ; unier the influence of those
high notions, which none but an Asiatic mind can properly appeoiate,
he appears from the impulse of the moment and from anxious sokci-
tade for the safety of his guests, to have made the hasty and unwar-
rantabfe proposal, and his conduct indicates the excessive agitation
under which he labored rather than a disregard to the honor of his
children* As regards the transaction in the case, the patriarch may
b^ exculpated from all blame.
As to his daughters, the narrative clearly states that they were igno-
fant of the real extent of die calamity, which had befallen the cities of
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 263
the plain. It Is evident that .they regarded themselves and their father
as placed in the same predicament with Noah and his family after the
flood, and acting upon this conviction, their only object seems to have
been, to prevent an utter txtmction of the human species. This is
the motive Moses represents them as acting from, and although they
erred, yet it is not to he attributed to corruption of heart, but to an
error of the judgment. Therefore they are not to be reprobated as
they would'deserve to be, if their conduct had been dictated by sinful
passion, or had resulted from the action of vitiated minds.
Infidels eagerly seize upon the misconduct of Abram when he prao-
^ed a deception upon the king of Egypt, by representing his wife
Sarai as his sister ; and also a similar proceeding of the patriarch in
after life, as an unanswerable argument against the possibility of such
an one as he ^ing the special favorite of God, and the Bible being a
divine revelation. But these men overlook the fact that the Scriptures
show men as they really were,— sinful and corrupt ; and Moses no
where represents Abraham as an absolutely perfect being, but he re-
cords this undeniable fact as folly, to call it by no harsher term ; and
be exhibits his faithfulness as a chronicler in exposing the weaknesses
of his hero. They do not consider, that however the facts against
which they object may weigh against the virtue, and good sense of
Abraham, they cannot by any possibility, be construed infto an ^rgu*
ment against the credibility of the sacred record. To contend that
because Abraham's faith failed him in two memorable instances,
therefore he was unworthy the favor God showed towards him and
the blessings he received, is mo^ absurd; Abraham, like other char-
acters in . histor}', can be jusdy compared only with the men with
whom he was contemporary ; and if we except Melcbizedek, he was
nndeniably the most faithful, the most upright, the most religious, the
most just of aQ the persons with whpm he came in contact Besides,
as Abraham was chosen, not for his own sake, but to serve a particu-
lar purpose, having reference to the benefit of all mankind, and not to
be accomplished till after many generations, a few blemishes in his
moral character would not, in any respect, afiect the end of his adop-
tion ; which, as it could be served only by one out of the millions of
men then alive, might just as well be served by Abraham as by any
other person.
It is worthy of special remark, that Inndels, blinded and bewilder-
ed as they are, oAen adduce as arguments against the Scriptures, what
are really arguments in their favor. Not only the crimes of Abra«
b^m already mentioned^ but those of Jacob, David and others, am
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1164 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
commented on, and with an air of triumph the question is proposed,
Could these have been men *' after God's own heart P Nothing is
more manifest than that the very recording of the faults and crimes of
the most eminent men whose names are mentioned in Scripture, is an
evidence of the truth of the sacred record. Had the writers of the
Bible been mere fiuman biographers, anxious ,to pass off their heroes
as the special favorites of God, they would not have ascribed to them
actions which a righteous God must both disapprove and puAish ; for
if they possessed any discernment whatever, they could not but have
foreseen the objections which such ascriptions would excite ; there*
fore, had they only been inventing a tale, they would have assiduous*
ly avoided what was almost certain to bring discredit on their narra-
tives ; so that there is a manifestation of great honesty in the record
given of the transgressions of the most eminently pious men whose
names are mentioned in the Scriptures. This should influence Infi*
dels to pause before they seize on such narratives, as an argument
against the credibility of the Bible.
To render a recurrence to this argument of the Infidel unnecessary^
it may be well here, further to investigate its nature, and expose its
fallacy, as applied not merely to Abraham, but also to the crimes
which the sacred historians represent both Jacob and David as hav*
ing committed* If the Infidel could prove, that the crimes committed,
*were suffered to pass with impunity, there would be fair ground to
object. Thus, could he show that David was visited with no chas*
tisement for the heinous sins of murder and adultery, there would be
some reason in his impugning the sacred narrative as at variance with
the known principles of God's moral government But if ader the
perpetration of these crimes, the days of the king of Israel were days,
according to the Scriptural representations, of unvaridble trouble and
distress, it cannot be said that the crimes entailed no punishment, and
that therefore the history is opposed to what we know of God's re-
tributive dealings.
Let us also consider the case of Jacob, whose conduct in practising
a fraud upon his father Isaac, has long been a standing subject of
cavil with Infidels, fhe conduct of both Rebekah and Jacob for the
purpose of diverting the blessing from Esau, cannot be justified*
When the Infidel urges, that when at the promptings of Rebekah,
Jacob, disguised in the raiment pf Esau, imposed on his father Isaac,
whose eyes were dim with age, 'both were guilty of great wickedness,
he is right ; but when he maintains, that as Jacob succeeded in his
fraud, Qod is represented as sanctioning villany, he has arrived at a
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 269
Mae coQcIosion — bo far from this, the whole history is full of evi-
dence of God's retributive justice. Isaac first transgressed in design-*
lug to bestow upon Esau the blessing which he knew God had prom-
ised to Jacob, for he attempted to divert the divine purpose and de*
eree ; but the narrative shows that not only was his attempt frustrated,
but the crime of the patriarch was ^signally punished, for he was not,
only deceived by his wife and son, a chastisement which must have
been very grievous, but in after life he had to experience the mortify-
ing reflection, that to his transgressions was to be traced the difficul-
ties and heart-burning? which prevailed in his family — thus Isaac, the
first transgressor, was punished. The crime of Rebekah and Jacob
consisted of U3ing an unlawful mode of preventing an unlawful d^
sign : both offended, and both were punished. Jacob it appears was
Rebekah's favorite son ; and it is most likely that it was a mother's
ibndness that pioved her at all hazsgrds to secure to him the blessing.
But what was the consequence? Her happiness was not thereby
promoted ; so far from this, disappointment and distress ensued. The
immediate consequence of her success was, that Jacob had to flee
from his father's house, and to become a sojourner in a strange land,
and he returned not to his home until his mother was dead, so that
Rebekah was punished, for she saw not again the son of her affec-
tions.
It is true that Jacob gained the blessing, for it was originally de-
signed for him ; but he was punished for the fraud which his impa-
tience and fearfulness influenced him to practice; and although he
obtained it, it was accompanied with sorrow and aflliction. Esau, in
this matter, had not sinned, therefore he remained in his father's
house, in the undisturbed enjoyment of its comforts and abundance.
But* Jacob, had to become a wanderer and an outcast, with no couch
but the ground, and no pillow but the stones ; and in after life how
signally did the even-handed jusiice of Almighty God return to him
the anguish which he caused to others. When he was deceived by
Laban, who gave him Leah in place of Rachel oti whom his affec-
tions were set, he was partially requited for the imposition he had
practised upon his father Isaac. This recompense, however, did not
eome up to the height of his offence. In after life his own children
deceived him, as he had deceived his father, for they cheated him in-
to the belief that Joseph was dead, and he must mourn for Joseph,
even as Rebekah had mourned for himself, and be separated from him
through many weary years, tie who attentively reads the history of
Jacob, cannot but perceive, that in the family troubles and sorrows
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which continaally harassed him, he was fully punished for the frand
which he practised on his father Isaad.
Infidels represent the command of God to Ahraham to sacrifice
Isaac, as a command to commit murder, and therefore it coostitntes a
proof that the Scriptures are unworthy of credit This command
may be satisfactorily vindicated, either by regardii^ ii as a symbolical
action, or, without this consideration, by resolving it into Uie divine
sovereignty over the lives of his creatures ; for the supreme Lord
and giver of life has a right to take it away, "add to command it to be
taken away, whenever and in > whatsoever manner he pleases. To
offer a human victim to him without his express wamknt would be to
commit murder^ but to do so by his command would be an act of
obedience. As the Almighty has a right to command, so his perfec-
tions lead us to infer that he will command nothing but what is wor-
thy of himself. The design of God, however, was to prove Abra-
ham, in orde^ that his faidi, love, and obedience might be manifest,
and notf in fact, that he should offer up Isaac. Abraham, moreover,
confidently believed that when he was sacrificed, Isaac should be
raised up firom the dead : that he must have had such a confidence is
obvious from the narrative of God's previous dealings with him. He
knew that previously to the birth of Isaac both he and bis wife wfre
dead to all the purposes of procreation ; that his birth was a kind of
life from the dead ; that the promise of God was most positive, *' In
Isaac shaUthy seed he called;^* that this promise could not fail; hence
he acted under the conviction that it was his duty to obey the com-
mand of God, and that it was as easy for God to restore him to life
al\er he had been a burnt-offering, as it was for him to give him life
at the beginning. Therefore he folly intended' to offer his son, and as
confidently expected to have him restored to life agam. If he had
not been upheld by such a conviction, what agony must his heart
have felt at every step of the journey, and through all the circum-
stances of this extraordinary business ? What must his affectionate
heart have felt at the questions asked by his innocent and amiable son ?
What must he have suffered while building the altar — flaying on the
wood — ^binding his lovely boy— -placing him on the wood — taking the
knife— and stretching out his hand to slay the child of his hopes. So
far firom this narrative being a proper subject for cavilf every view we
take of it interests the heart, and exalts the character of this father of
the faithful* Moreover it should be borne in mind, that no violence
was offei^ unto Isaac. Josephus supposes that he was then twenty-
five years of age, some rabbins that he was thirty-six. Dr. CladLe
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 207
wiys, " it is more probable he was now thirty-three." But allow that
he was only, as stated by Josephus, twenty-Jive, how easily, if so dis*
posed, could he have resisted ; for it cannot be supposed, that an old
man of at least one hundred and twenty-five years of age, could have
boiud, without his consent, a young man in the very prime and vigor
of life ; so that Isaac must have been influenced by the same motives
tiiat governed his father Abraham. It cannot, therefore, be said, that
the superior strength of the father prwat7«i but the piety, JUialaffee-
Hon^ and obedience of the son yielded, and, as Dr. Clarke jusdy ob-
serves, •* All this was most illustriously typical of Christ." In both
cases the fkther himself binds him on the wood or to the cross ; in
neither case is the son forced to yield, but yields of his own accord ;
in neither case is the life taken away by th^ liand of violence — ^Isaac
yields himself to the knUe — Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.*
* The book of Jaaher contains the following deeply interaeting account of the
conduct of Isaac, on the occasion referred to aboT« : " ^nd when they were going
along Isaac said to his father, Behold I see here the fire and the wood, and where
then is the Lamb that is to be the humt oficring before the Loid 1 And Abraham
answered his son Isaac, saying, The Lord has made choice of thee, my son, to be a
perfect burnt offering instead of the lan)b. And Isaac said unto bis &ther, I will do
a^ that the Lord spoke to thee with joy and cheerfulness of heart. And Abraham
again said unto Isaac his son, Is there in thy heart any thought or counsel concern-
ing this, which is not proper? tell me, my son, I pray thee; 0, my son, conceal it
not from me. And Imsc answered his father Abraham and said unto him, O my
father, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to
Cause me to deviate either to the right or to the left from the word that he has spoken
to thee. Neither limb nor muscle has stirred at this, nor is there in my heart any
thought or evil counsel concerning this. But I am of joyful and cheerful heart in
this matter; and I say, blessed is the Lord who has this day chosen me to be a burnt
offering before him. And Abraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they
went on, and came together to that place that the Lord had spoken of. And Abra-
ham approached to build the altar in that place; and Abraham was weeping, and
Isaac took stones and mortar until they had finished building the altar^ And Abra^
ham took the wood and placed it on the altar which he had built And he took his
son Isaac and bound him, in order to place him on the wood which was upon the
ahar, to slay him for k burnt offering before the Lord. And Isaac said unto his father,
Bind me securely, and then place me upon the altar, lest I should turn and move
and break loose fh>m the force of the knife upon my flesh, and thereby profane the
burnt offering; and Abraham did so. And Isaac still said to his father, 0 my father,
when thou d^alt have slain me and burnt me for an offering, take thee that which
shall remain of my ashes to bring to Sarah, my mother, and say to her, this is the
sweet smelling savor of Isaac ; but do not tell her this if she should sit near a well,
or upon any high place, lest she should cast her soul afler me and die. And Abra-
ham heard the words of Isaac, and lifted up his voice and wept when Isaac spake
these words : and Abraham's tears gushed down upon Isaac his son ; and Isaac
<wepC bitterhf, and he said to his father, Hasten then, O my fiither, and do thou the
will of the Lord our God, as he has commanded thee. And the hearts of Abraham
and Isaac rejoiced at this thing which the Lord had commanded tbem ; but the eye
wept bitterly while the heart rejoiced. ' And Abraham bound Isaac, and placed bun
on the altar upon the wood, and Isaac stretched forth his neck upon the altar befon
his father. And Abraham stretched forth his hand to take the knife to slay his son
•fl a burnt ofiering before the Lord.*'
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Infidels orge against the veracity of the Scriptures ^t they rep-
resent the rite of circumcision as haying had its origin in the family of
Abraham ; whereas, say they, it can be proved that that rite was first
practised by the Egyptians and other oriental nations ; and this assei^
tion they make upon the authority of Herodotus, who says : ** The
Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians are the only nations in the
world who have used, circumcision from the remotest period, and the
Phenicians and Syrians who inhabit Palestine acknowledge they re-
ceived this from the Egyptians.*' If Herodotus, b^ Phenicians and
Syrians, means Jews, he is incorrect ; for no Jew ever did or ever
could acknowledge this with tlie history of Abraham in his hand*
Had Herodotus lived and written before the days of Abraham, or be*
fore the sojourning of Israel in Egypt, and informed us that circum-^
cision had been practised among them from the beginnings then it
might have been possible that the Israelites while sojourning in
Egypt, had learned and adopted this rite. But when it is known
that Herodotus flourished only foiir hundred and eighty-four years
before Christ, and that Jacob and his family sojourned in Egypt more
than eighteen hundred years before the Christian era, and that all the
descendants of Abraham most conscientiously observed circumcision*
and do to this day, then the presumption is that the Egyptians re-
ceived it from the Israelites, and not that it was borrowed from the
former, by the latter, as they had practised it so long before their
ancestors had sojourned in Egypt* Mr. Bruce, the celebrated traveler
in Abyssinia, aAer mentioning a number of tribes among whom cir^
cumcision is practised, and stating the several reasons which they
assign for it, says, «< But none of them pretend that circumcision arises
from necessity of any kind, from any obstruclion or impediment to
procreation, or that it becomes necessary for cleanliness, or from the
heat of the climate. None of those reasorts, constantly given in
Europe, are even to be heard of here ; nor jdo t believe they have
the smallest foundation any where ; and this I think should weigh
strongly in favor of the account which Scripture gives of it. In dis-
cussing the question of the origin of the rite I- will suppose Moses a
profane author; but till those that argue against his account,. and main-
tain that circumcision was earlier than Abraham, shall show me anoth-
er profane author as old as Moses, and as near the time it began as
Moses was to the time of Abraham, I will not argue with them
in support of Moses against Herodotus, nor discuss Herodotus' Phe-
nicians, and who his Egyptians were that circumcised. Herodotus
knew not Abraham nor Moses ; and compared to their days, he is but
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as yesterday. Those Phenicians or Egyptians might, for any thing
he knew at his time, have received circumcision from Abraham, or
Ishmael, or some of their posterity, as the Abyssinians or Ethiopians,
whom he refers to, actually say they did ; which Herodotus did not
know, it is plain, though he mentions they were circumcised." Add
to this, that a strong evidence of the integrity of the statement of Mo-
ses is to be found in the fact, that all those tribes which trace their
descent from Ishmael circumcise their youth when they attain their
thirteenth year, in memory of their great ancestor, who according to
the statement of the sacred historian, had attained to that age when
he was circumcised.
Infidels object to the miracles performed by Moses in Egypt, that
he describes the works of the magicians in the very same language
he does his own^ and therefore there is reason to conclude diat those
performed by him were of the same nature as theirs.
' To this objection Mr. Farmer gives the following very satisfactory
reply : '* That nothing is more common than to speak of professed
jugglers, as doing what they pretend and appear to do, and that this
language never misleads, when we reflect what sort of men are spo-
ken of, namely, mere imposers on the sight Why might not Moses
then use the common popular language when speaking of the magi-
cians, without any danger of misconstruction, inasmuch as the sub-
ject he was treating, all the circumstances of the narrative, and the
opinion which the historian was know to entertain of the inefficacy
and imposture of magic, did all concur to prevent mistakes ?
Moses did not affirm that there was a perfect conformity between
his works and those of the magicians ; he does not close the respec-
tive relations of his own particular miracles, with saying, the magi-
cians did that things or according to what he did so did they, a form
of speech used on this occasion no less than three times in one chap-
ter to describe the exact correspondence between the orders of God,
and the behavior of his servants ; but makes choice of a word of
great latitude, such as does not necessarily express any thing more
than a general similitude, such as is consistent with a difference in
many important respects?— they did «o, or in Uke manner as he had.
That a perfect imitation could not be designed by this word, is evident
from its being applied to cases in which such an imitation was abso-
lutely impracticable : for when Aaron had converted aU the waters of
Egypt into bloody we are told the magicians did «o, that is, something
in like tort. Nor can it be supposed that they covered the land of
Egypt with frogs, this had been done already ; ihey could only appear
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270 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
to bring them over some small space cleared for the purpose. But
what is more decisire, the word imports nothing more than attempting
some imitation of Moses, for it is used when they failed in their at-
tempt : They did so to bring forth lice, but they could not.
So far is Moses from ascribing the tricks of the magicians to the
invocation and power of demons, or to any superior beings whatever,
that he does most expressly refer all they did or attempted in imitation
of himself, to human artifice and imposture. The original words,
which are translated enchantments^ are entirely different from that
rendered enchantments in other passages of Scripture, and do not
carry in them any sort of reference to sorcery or magic, or the inter-
position of any spiritural agents ; they import deception and conceal-
ment, and ought to have been rendered secret sleights or juggUngs^
imd are thus translated even by those who adopt the common hypothe-
sis with regard to the magicians. These «ecre/ sleights tndjugglings
are expressly referred to the magicians, not to the devil, who is not
so much as mentioned in thfr history. Should we therefore be asked,
how it came to pass, in case the works of the magicians were per-
formed by sleight of hand, that Moses has given no hint thereof? we
answer, he has not contented himself with a hint of this kind ; but at
the same time that he ascribes his own miracles to Jehovah, he has
in the most direct terms resolved ^very thing done in imitation of
them entirely to the fraudulent contrivances of his opposers, to leger-
demain or sleight of hand, in contradistinction from magical incanta-
tions. Moses therefore could not design to represent their works as
real miracles, at the very time he was branding them as impostures.
It remains only to show, that the works performed by the magi-
cians did not exceed the cause to which they are ascribed ; or, in
other words, the magicians proceeded no farther in imitation of Moses,
than human artifice might enable them to go, whDe the miracles of
Moses were not liable to the same impeachment, and bore upon them-
selves the plainest signatures of that divine power to which they are
referred. If this can be proved, the interposition of the devil on this
occasion will appear to be an hypothesis invented without any kind
of necessity, as it certainly is without any authority from the sacred
text.
With regard to the first attempt of the magicians, the turning rods
into serpents : It cannot be accounted extraordinary that they should
seem to succeed in it, when we consider that these men were famous
for the art of dazzling and deceiving the sight; and that serpents
being rendered first tractable and harmless, as they easily may have
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had a thousand different tricks played with them to the astonishment
of the q>ectators. Huetius tells us, that among the Chinese there are
jugglers who undertake to turn rods into serpents; though no doubt
thej ohly dexterolisly substitute the latter in the room of the former.
Now this is the very trick the magicians played ; and as it appears by
fiicts, that the thing in general is very practicable, it is immaterial to
account particularly how the thing was done ; since it is not always
easy to explain in what manner a common juggler imposes upon our
sight. Should it be suggested, that Moses might impose upon the
si^t of the spectators, as well as the magicians, I answer, that as he
ascribes their performances to legerdemain, and his own to God, so
there might and must have been a wide difference in their manner of
acting ; the covered arts of the magicians not being used by Moses,
the same suspicion could not rest on him that did on them. What an
ingenious writer asserts is not true, that, according to the book of
Exod^, the outward appearance on both sides was precisely the
same. The book of Exodus specifies a most important difference
between thei miracle of Aaron, and the impostures of the magicians ;
for it says, that ^aron cast daum his rod before Pharaoh and before
his servants f and it became a serpent ^ but with regard to the magi-
cians, it uses very different language, for at the same time it says,
Hiey cast down every man his rod^ and they became serpents. It
expressly declares, that they did this by their enchantments or cover^
ed arts} and what in the most effectual manner prevented any appre-
hension, that the serpent of Aaron was (like those of the magicians)
the effect only of a dexterous management, not a miraculous produc-
tion, Ood caused his rod to swallow up theirs, in which there was no
room for artifice, and which for this reason the magicians did not
attempt to imitate. This new miracle was not designed to establish
the superiority of the God of Israel to the idols of Egypt ; nor was
it capable of answering that end ; but in the view here given of it^
had much wisdom by vindicating the credit of the former miracle
(which might possibly be more open to suspicion than any of the rest)
as well as by affording new evidence of a divine interposition in favor
of Moses. God considered this evidence as fully decisive of the
point in question, between his messengers and the magicians ; for
Irom this time he proceeded to the punishment of Pharaoh and the
Egyptians; which affords a new demonstration, drawn from the jus-
tice of the Divine Being, of the falsehood of the common hypothesis,
according to the representation given of it by those who maintain that
die magicians were not plainly vanquished tfll they were restrained
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from taming the dast into lice. Had this been the case it would have
been right in Pharaoh to suspend his judgment till that time, nor
would God have punished him by the two intervening plagues, that
of turning the waters of the Nile (to which Egypt owed its fecundity)
into blood, and covering the land with frogs ; punishments so severe
as imply the most criminal obstinacy on the part of Pharaoh.
With regard to the next attempt of the magicians to imitate Moses,
who had already turned all the running and standing waters of Egypt
into blood, there is no difficulty in accounting for their success in the
degree in which they succeeded. For it was during the continuance
of this judgment, when no water could be procured but by digging
round abotU the river^ that the magicians attempted by some proper
preparations to change the color of the small quantity that was brought
them (probably endeavoring to persuade Pharaoh, that they could as
easily have turned a larger quantity into blood.) In a case of this
nature, imposture might, and as we learn from history, often did take
place. It is related by Valerius Maximus, that the wine poured into
the cup of Xerxes was three times changed into blood. - But such
trifling feats as these could not at all disparage the miracle of Moses ;
the vast extent of which raised it above the suspicion of fraud, and
stamped upon every heart, that was not steeled against all conviction,
the strongest impression of its divinity. For he turned their streams,
rivers, ponds, and the water in all their receptacles into blood. And
the flsh that was in the river (Nile) died ; and the river stank.
Pharaoh not yielding to this evidence, God proceeded to farther
punishments, an^ covered the land of Egypt with frogs. Before
these frogs were removed, the magicians undertook to bring into
some place cleared (or the purpose a fresh supply ; which they might
easily do, when there was such plenty every where at hand. Here
, also the narrow compass of the work exposed it to the suspicion of
being effected by human art, to which the miracle of Moses was not
liable ; the infinite number of frogs which filled the whole kingdom
of Egypt (so that their ovens, beds, and tables swarmed' with them)
being a proof of their immediate miraculous production. Besides,
the magicians were unable to procure their removal; which was ac-
complished by Moses, at the submissive application of Pharaoh, and
at the very time that Pharaoh himself chose, the more clearly to con-
vince him that God was the author of these miraculous judgments,
and that their infliction or removal did not depend upon the inflnenee
of the elements or stars, at set times or in critical junctures.
The history of the last attempt of the magicians oonflrms &e ao-
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count here given of all their former ones. Moses tamed all the dost
of the land into lice ; and this plague, Hke the two preceding ones,
being inflicted at the word of Moses, and extending over the whole
kingdom of Egypt, must necessarily have heen owing, not to human
art, bat to a divine power. Nevertheless, the motives upon which
the magicians at first engaged in the contest with - Moses, the shame
•f desisting, and some slight appearances of success in their former
attempts, prompted them still to carry on the imposture, and to try
toith their mckantments to bring forth Uce; but they could not.
With all their skill in magic, and with all their dexterity in deceiving
the spectators, they could not even succeed so far as they had doner in
former instances, by producing a specioah counterfeit of this work
of Moses. Had they hitherto performed real miracles by the assist-
ance of the devil, how came they to desist now 7 It cannot be a
greater miracle to produce lice, tlian to turn rods into serpents, water
into blood, and to create frogs. It has indeed been very often said,
that the devil was now laid under a restraint ; but hitherto no proof
of this assertion has been produced. The Scripture is silent, both as
^0 the devil being now restrained from interposing any farther in favor
of the magicians, and as to his having afforded them his assistance on
the former occasions. 'But if we agree with Moses, in ascribing to
the magicians nothing more than the artifice and dexterity which be-
longed to their professions ; we shall find that their want of success
in their last attempt, was owing to the different nature and circum-
stances of their enterprise. In all the former instances, the magi-
cians knew beforehand what they were to undertake, and had time for
preparation. They were not sent for by Pharaoh, till afler Moses
had turned his rod into a serpent, and previous notice had been pub-
licly given of the two first plagues. But the orders in relation to the
third, were no sooner issued than executed, without being previously
imparted to Pharaoh. So that in this last case they had no time for
contriving any expedient for imitating or impeaching the act of Mo-
ses. And had they been allowed time, how was it possible for them
to make it appear that they produced those animals, by which they
themselves and all the country were already covered and surround-
ed ? or what artifice could escape detection, in relation to insects,
whose minuteness hinders them from being perceived till they are
brought so near as to be subject to the closest Inspection? Now
therefore the magicians chose to say, Hiia (last work of Moses) t^
the finger of Ood.
It has been generally thought that the magicians here acknowledge
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that the God of Israel was stronger than the gods of Egypt, who had
hitherto assisted them* but were now restrained from doing it by his
superior power. But the text makes no mention of their allowing
the God of Israel to be superior to the gods of Egypt, much less of
their admitting the former to be Jehovah and the only true Grod.
Nor do they refer to any supernatural restraint upon the Egyptian de-
ities, but to the last miracle of Moses, when Aey say, TViia is the
fi^g^ of Godf or of a god; for the original word admits this sense,
and very probably was used in no other by the magicians, who he*
lieved in a plurality of gods. But unable to turn the dust of the
earth into lice (and even to seem to do it) they allow that this surpass-
ed the science ^ey professed, and argued the special miraculous in-
terposition of some deity. There is no sort of evidence that this lan-
guage of the magicians proceeded from a desire of doing justice to
lira character and . claims of the God of Israel, or that it was not
merely designed as the best apology they were able to make for their
own failure of success, and to prevent Pharaoh from reproaching
them with the want of skill in their profession. Certain it is that
this declaration of the magicians had no good effect upon Pharaoh,
but seems rather to be mentioned as an occasion of his continued
hardness. Nay, the history plainly intimates that the magicians
themselves afterwards confronted Moses, till in punishment of their
obstinacy, they were smitten with ulcen. t add, that the sense here
assigned to their language, is perfectly agreeable to the account before
given of the state of the controversy between them and Moses ; for
it implies, that the magicians had not so much as pretended to any
miraculous interposition of the gods in their favor, but relied entire-
ly upon the established rules of their art ; and consequendy that Pha-
raoh's view in sending for them, was to enable himself to determine,
whether the works of Moses lay within the compass of iU
I cannof conclude this subject without observing that the strenuous
but unsuccessful opposition to Moses added strength to his cause, as
it seemed to manifest the divinity of his miracle^, by clearing him
from all suspicion of magic. This art was thought equal to the
most wonderful phenonema. lit Egypt it was held in the highest
esteem, and carried to its utmost perfection. Pharaoh, without
doubt, on the present most important and interesting occasion^ engag-
ed the assistance of the most able professora of it, who from a regard
to their own reputatioi^ and interest, would try every possible method
to invalidate the miracles of Moses. Nevertheless theur utmost efforts
were baffled ; and the vanity and futility of the claims of magic were
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detected and exposed, agreeably to the censure passed upon them by
saint Paal; for, speaking of certain persons, whose opposition to
genuine Christianity was the sole effect of their corrupt minds, with-
out the least color of reason, he compares them to Jannes and Jam-
bres, who withstood Moses ; and did it, he must mean, with as little
pretence, pr there could be no justice in the comparison. He adds,
t^^ fo^ tJoas manifeit unto all men ; and thus he taxes the con*
duct of magicians with the most glaring absurdity. He cannot there-
fore be supposed to admit, that they imitated and equalled, for a time,
the miracles of Moses, and then desisted as soon as they found them-
adfes unable to continue the contest to advantage, (which would have
been a sort of prudence,) but to assert, that they wickedly and ab-
suredly attempted to place the feats of art on a level with the unde-
niable operations of a divine power ; and so shamefully miscarrying
in their undertaking, they exposed themselves to the contempt of
those who had once held them in high veneration." (Quoted from
Home.)
SECTION L
Intibkls assert that thp pillar of doud and fire is a fiction, having
its foundation in a custom very early in life, and to a certain extent
still practised by travelers through the desert. That before the com-
pass was invented, caravans were in the habit of having their route
marked by guides who preceded them, find carried as a sort of mova-
Ue beacdn, a quantity of fire elevated upon lofty poles. That such a
beacon, seen from the rear of an immense column, marching through
a sandy plain, would by day present the appearance of a cloudy
pillar, as by night it would assume the aspect of a pillar of flame.
To this it is readied, that the cloudy pillar was either what Moses
represents it to have been, or there was no cloudy pillar at all, for it
is absurd to suppose that any argument could persuade six hundred
thousand men, that one man, or a hundred men, marching before
^m and bearing fire upon poles, performed all that Moses tells his
contemporaries was performed by the pillar of cloud in their pre-
sence, and under their immediate observation. Sometimes the cloudy
pillar was within the camp, sometimes it appeared in the rear, and
sometimes in the front ; and it is not to be imagined that six hundred
tfiousand piersons could be persuaded that a single man, carrying an
osdinary fire, or a hundred men carrying as many fires, and occa-
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276 OBJEUTIOXS STATED AND ANSWERED.
sionally intermingling among them, constituted a being so awful, as
that pillar is stated to have been.
It is stated, the Israelites were under the guidance of the pillar
during forty years ; and it is inconceivable ^at for so long a period
they could be cajoled into the belief that a cloudy pillar was moving,
sometimes before, sometimes behind them ; that sometimes it rested
in their camp, sometimes at a short distance firom it ; that they heard
Moses receive, from time to time, commands from the Being who in-
habited it, and that they saw lightnings flash from it, to destroy dar^
ing sinners ; it is inconceivable that the Israelites could have been
persuaded of all this, if in reality there was nothing of the kind seen
or heard by them. He who still urges this objection, with a bad
grace accuses the most bigoted sectarian of credulity.
Some Infidels have asserted that the Israelites crossed the Red sea
at Suez, where the passage could easily have been effected without a
miracle by the recess of water at a spring tide, aided by the blow-*
ing of the Etesian winds. This assertion however is untrue. The
passage was not effected at Suez, but at a point which, ac<M>rding. to
an oriental idiom, lies ten hours' journey farther down the gulf. This
is, ascertained from the tradition of t)ie natives, compared with the
import of the name of the place, w^ere previous to the division of
the «ea the Israelites encamped. The wor,d " Pi-ha-hiroth," signi-
fies the mouth of the ridge, or chain of mountains, which line the
western coaist of the Red sea» among which we know that the people
were entangled $ and as there is but one mouth to that chain, through
which a retreating multitude could pass, there can be no doubt what-
ever respecting the situation of Pi-ha-hiroth. Before that opening
we are told the Israelites encamped, between Migdel and the sea,
over against Baal-zephon ; but Migdel being probably a tower, whiph
indeed is the meaning of the word, and Baal-zephon, or the northern
Baal, a temple on the opposite promontory, both these landmarks,
like other works of man, have long ago disappeared^ The opening,
however, in the ridge of mountains, anciently called . Pi-ha-hiroth,
still remains, and the names of conspicuous places in its neighbor^
hood distincUy prove, that the persons by whom such names were
given, believed this to be the point at which the Israelites passed the
gulf in safety, and where Pharaoh and his host were drowned in at-
tempting to follow. Thus we have close by Pi-ha-hiroth, on the
western side of the bay, Mount Attaka, which we are told signifies
deliverance : on , the western side, and nearly opposite, a head-land
called Ras Musa, or the cape of Moses $ and little farther down the
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OBJECTIONS STATIH) AMD ANSWERED. $79
gutf, Hamam Twatin, thai is Pharaoh's hatha or springs. It is wor*
thy of remark, also, that the general name of the gtdf itself, is at
these places, Bal^-el-Kolsum, the bay of aubmeraum^ in which there
IS a whirlpod, bearing the stiiking appellation of Buket Tarann, or
iiiB toeU or pool of Pharaoh. The depth of the water here, it ap>
pean, nerer Mis short of fonrteen fathpms,*«nd the bay is something
less than four leagaes in width.
Infidels urge that the tremendous scene on Mount Sinai at the de-
livery of the law, was a cheat practised by Moses upon the Israel*
ites ; diat Sinai was a Tolcanic mountain, and that Moses made use
of an eruption f<Nr the purpose of impressing the peoj^ with a belief
that he really held dose intercourse with Jehovah^
To this it is replied, that no volcanic eruption can account for the
accompaniments of the scene in question, such as the voice, which
we are infiinrmed caused all Israel to tremble, and the clang of trump-
ets, heard on all sides by hundreds of thousands of persons. Besides,
wherever a volcano has once been, traces are invariably lefl behind,
which time has never eradicated or probably never will ; of these,
neither Mount Sinai nor Mount Horeb presents a vestige ; they are
both perfectly smooth on their summits, without crater or orifice of
any kind, such as old volcanoes uniformly exhibit; and henoe we
are compelled to believe that neither in the days of Moses, nor at any
other period, were they subject to volcanic eruptions. The scene at
the delivery of the law must therefore have been as the Bible repre-
sents it, or it never occurred at all.*
The very same reasons will apply to every one of these wonderful
events, which took place during the pvogress of the Israelites through
the wilderness. However rude they may be admitted to have been,
* To the sonth-west of Mount Sinai hes a narrow Talley, which Dr. Pococke
ienom iStud vale of Job, or the Tale of God. There ia ahown the rock, which Moaea
ia aaid to have atmck, when the waten gushed out ao miraculoualy, and auppUed
the fiunting Israelites; the Dr. says it is a beautiful red granite stone, about seventy-
five feet long, ten wide, and about twelve feet high. It lies tottering and loose near
the middle of the Talley* which ia here about two hundred yaida broad : and it
•eems to have been formerly a part or cliff of Mount Sinai, which hangs in a va-
riety of predpioea over all this plain. There are four or five fiasutes, one above
the other, on the hoe of the rock, each of which is about a foot and a half long
and a few inches deep. These run along the breadth of the rock, and are not rent
downward ; they are more than a foot apart, and there it a channel worn between
them by theguahing of the watera. Dr. Shaw remaika, diat neither ait nor chaiioa
couki be concerned in the contrivance, and it never &ils to produce the graateat ae-
riousneas and attention in those who behold it The Arabs call it the stone of M<k
sea, and it is greatly venerated by the Bedouins, who put graaa into the fiannei
above described, as offerings to the memory of Moses, in the same manner as thay
place graas on the tombs of their saints, because graaa is to them the most precious
gift of nature, and upon which their <nriatepce depends. •
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it 18 impossible to coneeiv* tint they could be persuaded by ihm
ruler to look upon a fountain discovered by him among the boshes,
as miraculously opened in the face of a hard rock» by a blow iVom
his rod in their presenee ; whilst the showers of manna and flig^hts
of quails, whether oi natural occurrence in the desert or not, were,
in the case of the Hebrews, dearly miraculoos. No natural cause
can account for the absence of the manua <m the sabbath day, and on
the sabbath day only ; or, for its becoming putrid when kept beyond
a certain number of hours on other days, yet remaining pet^wtly
sound on ihe seventh ; nor is it probable that the quails would arrive
just at the moment when they wera most needed, uidess diiected
thither by the hand which leguldtes nature. Again, the tremendous
punishments vrhich from time to time overtook the rsbels ; the death
of Korah and his company by fire issuing from the pillar, of Dathan
and bis adherents by an earthquake. These things etdier were or
they were not ; if they were not, then must we believe that it is '
practic^le to persuade multitudes of men and women that they ac-
tually witiWBsed events which they had no means of witnessing ;
and it may be safely lef^ to the reader to decide whether the alterna-
tive be admissible.
Infidels found objections against the credibility of the Mosaic wri-
tings, on the dealings of Ood with the Israelites in the wilderness^—
the laws which he gave them, and his detaining ^lem so long from
taking possession of the land of Canaan. Mr. Ohnsted, with a sneer,
tells u^, that Bonaparte led hi^ army from Egypt to Joppa in six
dajTS, whereas the Israelites were forty years in performing the same
journey. •Such men, however, by iheir objections only show their
ignorance of the subjects treated of.
The great design of God in his dealings with the Israelites, not only
in the wilderness, but from the commencement to the close of their
career^ was the jsame which originally prompt^ him to call Abraham
from among his kindred, namely, to keep iip in a corrupted world
some knowledge of himself, and to prepare mankind for the coming
of that seed by whom the serpent^s head was to be bruised. Properly
to understand the design and fitness of the Levitical economy, the
reader must keep in view the condition of the nations of the earth at
large, and also that of the Israelites themselves.
As has already been proved, all the nations of the earth had de-
parted from the worship and service of the one true Ood, and they
worshiped the heavenly bodies, deified men, and in many instances
the beasts of the earth and creeping things. The Israelites tiiem-
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 281
aelires were contaminated with the prerailing idolatries and soper-
stitions of the Egyptians and surrounding nations, and when they left
Egypt they must have been not only morally depraved, but barbar-
ously ignorant and rude. Therefore, unless the Almighty had
miraculonsly interfered, to create as it were new capabilities in their
minds, they were not and could not be prepared to receive a pure and
^iritnal religion like the Christian. They had to be taught slowly,
aad advance step by step. Their bondage in Egypt was calculated to
render them humble and teachable. When God was about to inter-
pose for their deliverance, and revealed himself to them as the God
of their fathers, it was by a title which simply denotes personality
and existence ; by this a first tru^ was thrown into their jninds, but
what he was besides ^hat was thus revealed they then had no know-
ledge. By the miracles in Egypt he gave them a confirmation of
that revelation, by showing that he was infinitely more powerfiil than
all the supposed gods of that land. By delivering them from the
cruel and unjust bondage under which they labored, and especially by
their miraculous deliverance at the Red sea, he revealed himself to
them as their great. Benefactor, and by thus operating upon their
affections, he prepared them for further teachings ; and in this we
have a. display of the wisdom of Almighty God, for nothing is more
true, than that, in order to secure obedienoe, love must be called into
action, and no one can love a being in whom he does not discover
excellencies calculated to excite it* By the deliverance o( the Israel-
ites, therefore, the attention of the whole nation was turned to Jeho-
vahf and an impression of his goodness and benevolence was deeply
fixed Jn their memory. As all the nations around them were idola-
ters, consequently the Israelites would be exposed to seduction from
the worship of the one true God. Therefore we have in the narra-
tive another exhibition of the infinite wisdom of their Deliverer, in his
assuming not merely a religious but a political superiority over them,
and by constituting himself, in the strictest sens^ of the term, the king
of Israel, and thus the government became, in the strictest sense, a
theocracy. . And, as a security against seduction from his worship
and service, he passed a law by which apostasy from the true religion
was treated as high treason, and the person convicted of it was ren-
dered liable to the very same penalties which attach in modem
governments to the same offence. In all civilized nations, the traitor
to his government not only suffers death, but his sin is visited on his
descendants by a forfeiture of their titles and estates. Precisely to
this, and to no more &an this, does the penidty threatened in the
y2 36
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second oommandment, so moch objected to by infidels, extend: if
there be any injustice in it, (which there is not») that inpistioe is
shared w^ the codes of all the most enlightened nations that hafe
ever flourished on the face of the earth.
When the condition of the Israelites is kept in view, especially* tiiair
strong inclination to neglect and corrupt then: religious duties, the no-
eessity of the severe penalty annexed to the law of the sabbath w31
be apparent ; for, had not this law been rigidly enforced, the conse-
quence would have been, a general forgetfulness of the fundamental
truths of all religion-— these, with the other laws or commandments
of the moral code, were first passed. Then followed the ceremonial
code, which is so much objected against by the Infidel, and in whidi
even most Christians themselves see neither fi^ess or exeeUency. A
proper understanding of this subject may present the ceremonial code
in a new and interesting light.
The Infidel sneers at the victims' dresses and ordinary eostodis
enjoined by the ceremonial law, as ridiculous ; and aifliertB that such
a law is unworthy the character of God. The law in relation to
victims was calculated to teach the Israelites an important lesson.
Whoever will cast his eye over the Ust of animals devoted to slaugh-
ter by that law, will find that they were precisely such as were re*
vered by the-Egyptians as gods. Thus a heifer without blemish, of
whatever color, was in Egypt held saicred to his, one of their princi-
pal deities ; and it was wovshiped as the visible tepresentative of tiiat
goddess ; whilst the color, red or bright yellow, boUi in man and beast,
was consecrated to Typhon, the principal of evS. A heifer without
blemish, was by the ceremonial law, commanded, as the vilest of
all animals, to be burned without the camp ; and whoever touched her
was pronounced to be unclean ; thereby contempt was poured upon
the worship of Isis, and thereby the Israelites were tau^ to look
with repugnance upon the worship of that idol. Among the Egypt-
ians the goat was sacred to Pan, and worshiped with the most atro-
cious rites as his emblem. But Jehovah required the Israelites to
offer up this Eg3rptian deity as a sacrifice to himself, and on one occa-
sion to send him away into the wilderness loaded. with maledictions;
and it was thus thnmghout the whole law of sacrifice. Evtfry victim
was offered in direct opposition to the superstitious notions of the
heathens, by whom the Israelites were surrounded. The influence
and tendency of the law of sacrifices, was to teach the Israelites that the
gods of the heathens were no gods ; and therefore a wall of partition was
raised, not to be broken down by the apostasy of the favored people*
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. Mt
The Infidd sneeringly asks, Pray, why should this kw prescribe
even the kiiTd of apparel to be worn by the Inradites : for instance,
was not the law forbidding them to wear a garment of linen and
woolleii mized^ ridiculons : and is it not disparaging to the character
<tf God, to vepreeent him thns particular aboat matters of no import-
ance T The propriety of this law will appear, when it is considered
that the heathens always wore such a garment during their nocturnal
acts of worship ; and because they belieyed that the act of wearing it
protected its owner and his property from malign influence, and pro-
moted exceedingly the growth of his wool and flax.
The Infidel again asserts that it must be acknowledged by the most
bigoted stickler for the ceremonial law, that the injunction not to
eeethe a kid in his mother's milk was both unnecessary and ridicu-
lous. It is conceded tiiat at first sight this seems a strange injunc-
tion ; but when it is considered that to feast upon a kid so dr^sed,
formed an essential part of the impious and obscene ceremonies which
were celebrated in honor of a god, belieyed to have been suckled by a
goal, the pidhibition can no longer be viewed as useless in itself, or at
all unworthy of him who pronounced it. From these examples it
must be ev^nt that the ceremonial law was admirably calculated to
teach the Israelites many important lessons, and to guard them finom
being reduced into the idolatrous practices of the heathens around
them.
It has been rightly observed, that it is characteristic of the wisdom
of Ood to accomplish many ends by a single act of providence. And
other and very important lessons, besides Aose just specified, were
taught the Israelites by the ceremonial law. Whel^ehovah had de-
livered them from the bondage .of Egypt, constituted them into a
theocracy, and delivered to them the ten commandments from Mount
Sipat, they, knew none of his attributes except his infinite power and
* goodness ; ai^d although they knew that he required their worship and
obedience, and just and equitable conduct towards each other, yet
they had no conception of his holiness, his opposition to all moral
defilement. How were they to be taught this attribute of the Deity,
without a knowledge of which there could be no right exercise of
heart in religious worship? Unless God had miraculously created
new capabilities in their minds, the only way by which it could be
communicated, would be by the use of figures addtessed to the mind
through the medium of &e senses.
: That the Israelites might be brought to the knowledge of holinees
by the ceremonial law, the animals of the country were divided into
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dean and uncleaiit and hy tliia dtstinction the Israelites deemed the
one kind purer than the other. From that which was deemed pore,
one without spot or blemish was selected as a victim to be offered in
samfice ; this in their eyes would be deemed purer, not only than
those which were considered undean, bnt more pure than other indt-
viduals of its own kind. As the animals were ikam distinguished,
so also were the Israelites themselves ; for every Israelite was not
pennitted to offer these animals in sacrifice, but a certain class of
men were sdected from the whole body, who were set apart or puri-
fied for th^ service. But this was not all ; before the sacrifice could
be offered, it had first to be washed with pure water, and on certain
occasions the priest himself had to undergo the same kind of purifica-
tion. Finally, when all thei^ di^erent processes had been gone
through, and the idea of superlative purity had therd[>y attached it-
self to the sacrifice-^when it was offered, neither priest, nor people,
nor sacrifice were perpnitted to come into the presence of God ; but
the victim was offered in the court without the holy of holies ; and
thus a contrast was drawn between the purity of God, and the high-
est degree of earthly purity ; and thus by the use of figures and a
process of comparison, the idea of the purity of *€rod was communi-
cated by the ceremonial law to the minds of the Israelites. This
idea however was communicated, not merely by the sacrifices which
were offered, but it pervaded the whole Levitical economy in all its
ceremonies and all its observances. « Th^ camp was purified, the peo-
ple were purified, the priests were purified, every thing was purified
and re-purified, and every process of the ordinances was calculated to
reflect purity on the others, until finally all centered by comparison
into the idea of the infinite purity.of God, who, been believed by
them to be an infinitely powerful and good Spirit, the idea of purity
as attached to him would necessarily assume a moral character, be-
cause it appertained to a moral being, and would be viewed as moral
purity or holiness. Thus by this process, they learned in the Scrip-
tural meaning of the term, that God was of purer eyes than to look
upon iniquity.
The author of the Philosophy of the Plan of SalVation, to whom
we are indebted for the substance of the immediately preceding re-
marks, says : «< That the idea of the moral purity in the minds of
the Israelites was originated by the machinery of the Levidcal dis-
pensation, is supported, not only by the philosophy of the thing, but
by many allusions in the Scriptures. Such allusions are frequent
both in the writers of the Old and the 'New Dispensations : evideno-
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 999
ing that in their minds, the idea of moral parity was still symbolizod
by physical purity. The rite of bi4)tiam is founded upon thi« sym*
bolical analogy ; the external washing with wateif being significant
of the purifying influence of the Holy Spirit. St. John saw in a tis*
ion the undefiled in heart, clothed with linen pure and white ; evine*
.ing that to the ndnd of the Jew, such vestments as the high priest wore,
were emblematical of moral purity. In the epistle to the Hebrews,
which is an apostolic exposition of the spiritual import of the Lerif-
ical institution, so far as that institution particularly con<^ms be>
Uevers under the New Testament dispensation, we have the fore*
going view of the design of ceremonial purification expressly con-
firmed. '^ It was therefore necessary," says Paul 10 the Hebrewis,
•< that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified witfi
these, (i. e. with these purifying processes addressed to the senses,)
but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices ihan these.''
The plain construction of which is, that the parts and processes of
ihe Levitical economy were patterns' addressed to the senses, of on*
seen things in heio^en, and that the purifjring.of these patterns indica>
ted the Spiritual purity of the spiritual things which they represented.
There is, finally, demonstrative evidence of the fact, that the idea
of moral purity, as connected with the idea of God, is now and al*
ways has been the^ same which was originated and conveyed to the
Jews by the machinery of the Levitieal dispensation. The Hebrew
word gadho$h was used to express ^e idea of purity as originated
by the tabernacle' service. The literal definition is purCf to bepurt^
to be purified for sacred uses. The word thus designated and con-
veying this meaning, is employed in the Scriptures to express the
moral purity or holiness of God.*
In the New Testament this word is translated by the Greek term
agioSf but the Hebrew idea is connected with the Greek word. In
king James^ version, this Greek word is rendered by the Saxon term
holy — the Saxon word losing its original import, (whole, wholly^)
and taking that of the Hebrew through the Greek. So that our idea
* One of the princifial difficulties which the misskmaiy meets with, accnrdinff to
letters in the missionary reports, is, that of conveying to the minds of the heauen
the idea of the holiness of God. They find no such idea in their nlinds, and Uiey
can use no word in their language by which to convey the full and true force of
the thought The true idea, therefore, if communicated at all, must be conveyed
by a paraphrase and labored illustration.' This obstacle will be one of the most dif-
ftcult to surmount in alT* languages ; and it cannot be pcdecdy overcome, till the
Christian teacher becomes perfectly flBuniliar with the language of those whom be
wishes to instruct
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of Ifae holinesfl of God is the same which was originated by ike Le*
▼itical ceremonies, and there is no other word, so fiw as I hare been
able to examine, in any language, which conveys this idea. Nor is
there any idea among any people thai approximates closely to die
Scriptnre idea of holiness, unless the word receive some sh^es of its
signification from the Bible.*
Here, then, the idea of God's moral purity was cmiveyed by ihe
Mosaic economy, in a manner in accordance widi the constitution and
the condition of the Jewish mind. This same idea has descended
from the Hebrew through the Greek to our own language, and there
iff, so far as known, no other word in the woiid which conveys to the
mind the true idea of Grod's moral purity but that originated by the
institution whidi GUmI prescribed to Moses on the mountt"
The demonstration, then, is conclusive, both'from philosophy and
fact, that the true and necessary idea of God's attribute of holiness
was originated by the patterns of the Levitical economy, and that it
oould have been communicated at the first in no other way. An atten-
tive examination of the ceremonial law must convince the candid and
honest inquirer, that, by a similar process with that which his been
described, it was admirably calculated to convey to the minds of the
Israelites a knowledge of the divine justice, the demerit of sin, Aic^
and to those who lead its various rites, ceremonies, and requisitions,
widi an eye to the impression they were calculated to make upon the
minds of the Israelites, there will appear a fitness and excellency in
many things which otherwise must seem inconsistent with the majes-
ty of the divine nature.
It is worthy of remark, that the Israelites were commanded not
merely to obey the law, but they were enjoined to meditate upon it
day and night; and those who loved and feared God are represented
as delighting in such meditation. From this it is evident that the
ceremonial law in all its rites and observances was full of meaning, to
reach which required much and dose meditation. This is evident
from the very term law, which, says President Forbes, « carries not
in it properly the idea of authority, enjoining or commanding ; but it
is taken from a word which signifies originally to demonBtrate^ to
directy io point out the way"
* PhilcMopbv of &e Plan of Salvation,
f The foundation principle of that achool of scepticism, at the head of which an
the atheistical materialists, is, that aU knov^ledge is derived throngh the senses, and
that, as God is not an object of sense, man can have no knowledge of his being or
•ttrttrates. Now these deductions shew that the troth of revealed lellgion may be
£rmly established upon their own proposition.
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OBJBCnONB STATED AND AN8WE1ED. 387
To aU that has been said on this subfeet, the Infidel objects that th»
eorenant entered into widi the Israelites was literal, and the promises
were literal, but having reference only to the present life. To this it
is replied: this is true, and the end the Deity had in view is evident,
and has manifestly been attained. But it by no means foUowii from
thence, that the law itsdf, with all the emblematical rites, ceremonies,
and institutions, had no higher metfiing, and did not speak a language
Tory intelligible to every individual Israelite who had a soul to be
saved, and who from these divine institutions was to discover the will
of God, and conceive hopes of mercy and forgiveness ; or that the ob-
serving and meditating on this law was not necessary to lead them to
the knowledge of God, and to the expectation of his favor in a future
state. To be satisfied on this subject, all that is necessary is to look
into their history, and their other sacred writings, where the religious
sentiments of their inspired nien, the declarations of God, their pro«
fessions, prayers, and confessions do abundantly show what each in-
dividual was to see and believe, and what the wise and piaue did 6e-
Heve. Comparing the law with these things, we have a key to ded*
pher the typical institutions.
A cypher is in itself obscureT-Hise the key, it becomes intelligible ;
and if by so doing it becomes dear, beautiful, and consistent, you may
be certain you have the right key. To illustrate— the written language
of the Egyptians was hieroglyphic, that is, they used emUems or
figures of things animate and inanimate, to express their meaning.
The key of these emblems- is now lost ; if it could be recovered it
would explain the Eg3rptian antiquities still preserved. To us such .
writing is unintelligible, but it was not so to the Egyptians who used
it, and nothing ean be more^ absurd Aan to suppose that the em-
Uematical worship and services of the ceremonial law were not
idewed as Aill of meaning by those who were commanded to observe
ihem, and for whose instruction they were established.
Their highest act of religious service Was sacrifice, in which the
Uood of the animal was spilt, and deemed of very great efficacy ; the
whole body,'or that part of it which was most infiammable, the fat and
the inwards, were burnt with fire on the altar. This was termed as-
cension, from the parts of it ascending in smoke by fire ; the blood
was said to atone, and the smoke to be a sweet savor of rest to the
Lord. The party who offered the sacrifice, when it was to be killed,
was to lay his hand on the head of the victim, and the very intent
of the sacrifice was to atone for the sin felt and adcnowledged by the
peraon who offered it. The Deity, coasidered as the punisher of sin»
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10 alwmys represented under the idet oifire^ a efmsuming firt. The
innocent animal slain, therefore, must have been typical of the greel
intercessor, who was to be skin for sin, and the yirtue was not in tht
victim but in that which was typified. The blood of the victim wat
i^ed and sprinkled upon the altar, and poured out at ^ foot of it;
but it was not the blood of the mctim which sanctified every thing
and atoned for sm. The carcase, or at least the fat, the covering
of the inwards, the most inflammable part of it, was committed to the
sacred fire, the emblem of the wrath of the Deity against the culprit*
and was consumed thereby, and ascending towards heaven in smoke^
it r^resented as a sweet savor, or savor of rest to Jehovah. But
tfiere was no virtue in the smoke which thus ascended : all must have
been emblematical of something else that was to ascend from the vic-
tim tjrpified, the sacrifice of whom was to propitiate and reconcile
Qod to the sinner. •
• When viewed in'a proper light, the ceremotoial law affords a won^
derM display of the' wisdom of God, which sufficiently^ attests its
divine origins For in their daily sacrifices the Israelites had the
strongest memorandum of the fall of man, and of his forfeiture there-
by of that life for which the blood (^ life) of the victim was to be
shed ; of- die anger .of God, which must have consumed mankind, if
what was represented by the burnt offering had not interposed ; and
of the excellency of the sacrifice typified, by whose oblation ihp
Deity was to be pacified and reconciled. And it must be evident that
reflections on this symbolical act were "admirably calculated to pot
the mind in a proper frame for prayer and praise.
Besides the daily, the weekly, the monthly, and the yearly sacri6*
ees, the iteration of the same symbolical act was directed when the Isra*
dites were desirous to approah the place Jehovah had chosen for his
service, in order to pray, or praise, or rejoice in his fiivor. Peaos
offerings were to be offered with gladness, and after the blood was
shed and the fat burned on the altar, the party who made the offering
was to feast on the remainder with joy, being confident of the hwot
of God. Indeed, the continued obligation to abstain from blood and
the hi of animals slain even for private use, was a constant memorial
to such as could not attend the public service, of dieir sinfulness and
the way of restoration.
That the great design of Jehovah in selecting the Israelites from
among the nations of the earth as his peculiar people, and the insdtn*
tion of the ceremonial law, was to keep up the knowledge of himself
and his gracious designs to our guilty raoot is further evident torn die
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 289
6ct, tint when they kept this law he cherished ^em— when remiss
in duty, he chastised them — when as a nation they sought after other
gods and slighted his serrice, they were delivered into slavery, and
when they returned to their duty they were restored to their own
land. Finally, when they lost sight of the knd of their law, and ei^
tertained dishonorable views of their God, his revelation and that sal-
vation which was predicted by the whole law, and when in tlieir per-
terseness they put to death the Purifier, then God executed upon
tiiem the threatened curses, and dispersed and blinded (hem.: and it is
worthy of remark, that by their present condition, the evidences of
die truth of revelation are as strongly and as clearly preserved as it
was when they were a nation and in possession of the proinised land.
But it is objected by the Infidel that sacrifice was not peculiar to
the Israelites, but obtained universally among the ancient heathen na-
tions. This is true ; and to this may be added that they all viewed
them as propitiatory. They also viewed the blood that was shed as
possessing wonderful efficacy ; they ^o vowed and returned thanks
by sacrifice : but they eat the blood of their sacrifices, and the object
was to render them more perfect and more acceptable. Instead of
sprinkling the altar, many of them sprinkled their own bodies wi^i
Ifae blood, and thereby they gave the stronger evidence of the virtue
iBbey imagined n^as in the blood they used. But whence the origin
of sacrifice, and how are we to account for the fact that all nations
have attached to sacrifice such great importance and Efficacy! It
mist be acknowledged that there is no connexion between the blood
of a slain beast and the pardon of sin. He who denies that the Bi-
ble is a revelation from God, must in vain attempt to give a satisfacto*
ry account of the origin, universality, and perpetuity of this rite.
The Bible alone solves the mystery ; for there we read that sacrifice
was instituted from the beginning. Abel saqrificed^-so did Noah.
It was by his sacrifice of the first-bon;! of his flock that Abel found
acceptance ; for thereby he acknowledged himself a sinner. And the
sacrifices ofiered by him, by Noah and all the patriarchs, were typi-
cal of that which the Deity designed to be pointed out and kept in re-
membrance, and which was indicated in that promise made to the
progenitors of the race, where it is said the seed of the woman ehaU
bruise the serpent^s headj and it should bruise his heel. From the
fact that all nations have not only offered sacrifices, but viewed them
ai propitiatory, it is most evident that mankind originally must not
only have vieyred thejnaelves as guilty, but were in possession of a
Aroper and intelligible account of the maimer and means ef their re-
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200 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
conciliation to God, viz.» through the atoning merits of the great Pu-
rifier. The institution of sacrifice however they had penrerted, and
lost sight of that which was indicated by it And a close and candid
examination of the law of Moses, cannot but result in the conviction
that that law, in its leading features, was a republication of the revela-
tion and institutions which God originally gave to Adam, (the traces
of which, as has been already shown, are still to be found among all
nations,) and the design of Jehovah in lus dealings with the Israelites
was to keep up among mankind the knowledge of that revelation and
gracious design.
In order to form a proper estimate of the law, a few disconnected
passages of Scripture must not be relied on ; but the whole system,
and the design of every rite and of every ceremony must be properly
understood ; for it must be admitted that to obtain a correct know-
ledge of any thing whatever, we must comfider it in all its parts ; a
course however, which it is deeply to be regretted, the enemies of
Revelation do not pursue. It should also be borne in mind, that the
writings of Moses are the oldest books in the world, and in our ex-
amination of their meaning we iiecessarily labor under great disadvan-
tages. We have no way of knowing precisely what were the cus-
toms, manners, sentiments, and comn^on notions which obtained id
those ancient times, except what We can collect from the sacred books
themselves, and a few discoveries made by 'modem travelers. This
being the case, it should not be surprising if we cannot rightly con-
ceive of, or properly account for the reason and meaning of several
phrases, directions and ordinances, while we may rest assured that
the ancients to whom they were delivered, well knew what they meant,
and for what end they were recorded. ,
But although we do not exactly know why a thing is so named, or
cannot precisely tell the immediate origin of ,a particular institution,
yet by comparing one passage of Scripture with another we can per-
ceive the general sense of the phrase and discover the design of the
institution ; and if we fail, we should pause before we attribute to the
sacred writings that which is to be traced to our own ignorance or
misapprehension.
It is objected by Infidels to the Levitical economy, that it con-
tained many enactments, the tendency of which is to encourage and
foster the worst passions of our nature. It is conceded, that if some
of ike laws delivered to the Israelites in the wilderness were enacted in
the present enlightened state of society, it would be neither politic nor
just ; but this does not prove that at Uie period they were passed, and
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OBJBCTnONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 291
keeping in view the then condition of society, they were either irn*
politic or unjust In the investigation of this subject, the condition of
^e Israelites and of the other nations of the earth must be borne in
mind. We know that each individual of the human family passes
through the different stages of childhood, youth, and manhood ; du-
ring each of these a different system of discipline is requisite. Just
80 has it been with the whole human race, and with each individual
nation of it. When the law was delivered to the Israelites, as is
abundandy proved by their annals, they were in the very first stage
of their national existence ; they were exceedingly rude, barbarous,
wayward and capricious. In their then condition, to have subjected
them to the more pure and perfect moral restraints which are imposed
upon civilized nations by the Gospel, wpuld have been to anticipate
the condition of mankind many centuries. Therefore in forming an
opinion upon this subject, it is necessary to bear in mind the condi-
tion and capabilities of the Israelites at that period of their history.
If the Jewish laws are compared with those of other nations pf anti-
quity— with those of the twelve tables at Rome, with those of Sparta,
Athens, or any other state,, of whose wisdom men are accustomed
to think with partiality, and whose laws are held up by a certain class
of Infidels as models of perfection, it will be found that the Levitical
code, in point of strict justice, mercy, humanity, and a concurrence
W4th right reason, stands pre-eminent, and presents glaring and palpa^
ble proofs that it is impossible for it to have been the invention of
man in a state of society so rude and barbarous. And it should be
borne in mind that the Levitical code possesses a much higher anti-
quity than any with which we are acquainted. The ordinances of
Menu probably rank next in antiquity, but he, and Solon, and Lycnr-
gus, and Draco, wi^ all the advantage of experience to assist them,
failed to produce any thing at all to be compared to it for wisdom,
purity or fitness.
Infidels strenuously urge against the credibility of the Mosaic wri-
tings, the repeated apostasies of die Israelites ; and they maintain that
it is impossible that those miraculous events mentioned by Moses
could have transpired ; dtherwise the Israelites could not have been
guilty of the repeated apostasies which are recorded in the Scriptures.
Especially, say they, it is impossible to believe that God appeared
upon Mount Sinai and there delivered the law, when in the same con-
nection we are informed that the Israelites made a golden calf and
worshiped it in sight of the smoke and the fire which issued from
the Mount, and which they must have known was caused by the pres-
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202 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
ence of God. Surely, in such circumstancest no tribe, however mAs,
could commit so flagrant an act of folly.
To this it is replied, it is conceded that in the repeated acts of apos-
tasy of which the Israelites were guilty, there is much to excite sur-
prise ; but before the facts are pronounced impossible or even diS-
cult to be believed, it should be considered that similar occurrences
are daily transpiring in the most enlightened societies. The drunkard
is repeatedly warned not merely by the physician, but by his own ex-
perience, that if he persists in his pernicious habit, not only his health
but his life must fall a sacrifice. Such an one can see his famUy in povr
erty and distress ; feel that he is degraded in the estimation of society,
and from time to time experience the gn^wings of remorse ; yet tlids
man, perhaps with an excellent understanding and a liberal education,
persists in his downward course, and in defiance of his judgment and
feelings rushes headlong into ruin. With such a fact before us, is it
impossible to believe that a rude and illiterate nation just emerged firom
the most abject bondage, contaminated by the degrading idolatries of
their former masters, and vitiated both in their moral and intellectual
being, should, notwithstanding all the display of divine power which
they witnessed, fall away, as often as a strong temptation occurred,
from their allegiance to Jehovah ? But it is urged, that the spectacles
witnessed by them were calculated to make a much more powerful
impression upon them than reason and conscience possibly could upon
the mind of the drunkard. This however, is a mistake; for it is evi-
dent that the enlightened and well educated man, i^ho will not be re-
strained by the commission of crime, by the spectacle of his wife's
misery, his children's ruin, and the reproaches of his own conscience,
could not be cured of his folly by witnessing just such a scene as
occurred at Mount Sinai ; and it must be evident that when we con-
sider the condition of the Israelites then, what they witnessed ^t
the Mount must have produced a less vivid efiect upon their minds
than one night's bitter self-reproach now produces on the mind of the
drunkard, to whom they have been compared. With regard to their
worshiping the golden calf, it should be borne in mind that at the pe-
riod of this history, as has been already shown, although they had
been taught by what they had witnessed, that Jehovah was all-power-
ful, and they, had experienced manifestations of his goodness and
mercy, yet they were in utter ignorance concerning the holiness of
his nature ; consequently their minds were dark and their propensi-
ties corrupt. It is a great mistake to suppose that by their worshiping
the golden calf they designed to be gqilty of an act of apostasy firom
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 208
Jehovah, as is evident from the narrative of that occnrrence, by the
examination of which, the reader will perceive that the feast at which
they were guilty of that act of idolatry was not in honor of either of
the Egyptian gods Isis or Ofciris, but it was •*«/«»/ to the Lord"*
and die golden calf was not designed to represent either of these hea-
then deities, but Jehovah ; and it was proclaimed to be that God which
brought them up out of the land of Egypt Their crime consisted in
worshiping God in an idolatrous manner, and wiik beastly and lustful
practices, which they had witnessed ,at the feastai instituted in honor
of the Egyptian deities. The narrative therefore is not incredible ;
but it affords a mournful exhibition of the debasing influence of idola-
try upon the human mind, and it assigns a satisfactory reason for the
destruction of that generation of Israelites previous to the nation's
being put in possession of the land of Canaan.
The treatment of the Moabites and Midianites by the Israelites,
has b^en urged as an unanswerable objection against the credibility
of the Mosaic writings. Mr. Paine, and Mr. Olmsted after him,
have unblushingly imputed the most execrable of all motives to Mo-
ses as the instigation of that war between the two nations. Com-
menting on Numbers ; chap. xxxi. Id^ Mr. Paine says, <* Among
the detestable villains that in any period of the world have disgraced
the name of man, it is impdtoible to find a greater than Moses, if this
account be true. Here is an order to butcher the boys, to massacre
the mothers, and debauch the daughters.'* That this subject may be
properly understood, the reader must bear in mind that the arrival of
the Israelites threw Balak, king of Moab, into the utmost constema^
tion. Being afraid to take the field against them, in accordance with
the superstitious temper of the times, he thought to overwhelm them
with the power of magic. With this view he despatched messengers
to Balaam, a celebrated magician of Pe]ier of Mesopotamia, entreat-
ing him t6 come up and curse the Israelites. Balaam, under the ex-
pectation of a rich reward for this service, xepaired to Moab. By
the king he was conducted tO the summit of certain high places, sa-
cred to the impure god Baal, where he had a view of the whole He-
brew encampment AfWr certain preliminaries, he proceeded, to at-
tempt to curse Israel ; but, instead of curses, under an irresistable in-
fluence, he poured out upon them a torrent of benedictions. Three
times he made the effort to curse them, and each time he was con-
strained to utter benedictions instead of curses. At this Balak be-
* Exod. TTTll. 5.
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294 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
came furious, and threatened to dismise the magician with ignominy,
to his home. But Balaam was constrained to offer one of the moet
sublime prophecies recorded in the Scriptures ; being unable to pro-
nounce curses upop the Israelites, he advised the adoption of such
measures as promised most effectually to prevent the fulfilment of the
prophetical benedictions he had been compelled to utter.
At his suggestion the Moabites immediately opened a friendly com-
nronication with the Israelites ; and their women being very beauti-
M as well as very depraved, at the instigation of Balaam they used
all their arts to corrupt the male Israelities, and succeeded but too well ;
Ar the Worship of their filthy god Baal-peor, by ceremonies too licen-
tious and brutsd to be named, sufficed to draw the Israelites away from
their allegiance to Grod, and incite them to the commission of disgrace-
ful crimes. As a judgment upon them for their apostasy, the Israel-
ites were visited by the breaking out of a terrible and deadly plague.
God also commanded that every head of a house convicted, by proper
tribunals to try the question, of having given his sanction to these shame-
ful proceedings, should upon conviction be publicly hanged. This com-
mand was executed until not less than a thousand had suffered death.
By the command of God, Moses had no sooner reduced his peopld
to order than he sent against the Moabites a chosen army, which over-
threw them in a pitche4 battle; slew five of their kings, including
Balaam the magician, took their women and children .captives, and
burnt their towns with fire. When the army returned victorious,
Moses and the princes of the congregation went to meet it, ** and
Moses was wrath with the officers." He observed the women cap-
tives, and he asked with astonishment, «< Have ye saved all the wo-
men alive ? Behold, these caused the children of Israel,* through the
counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter
of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation." He then
gave orders that the boys and the women should be put to death,
but that the young maidens should be kept alive* for themselves.
Upon this command of Moses, Mr. Paine founds his objection, and
charges him with consigning thirty-two thousand females to debauch-
ery. In his eagerness to condemn Moses, Mr. P^e passes by the
base attempts of the Moabites to destroy Israel by leading them into
apostasy from Jehovah, and to the commission of fictions crimes.
He could not perceive that in the circumstances, the command of Mo-
ses was dictated by good policy blended with mercy. For, as bishop
Watson in his reply to Paine, judiciously remarks : " The young
men might have become dangerous aveqgers of what they would es-
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 805
teem their country's wrongs \ the mothers again might haye allured
the Israelites to the love of licentious pleasures and the practice of
idolatry, and brought another plague upon the congregation ; but the
young maidens, not being polluted by the flagitious habits of their
mothers, nor likely to create disturbance by their rebellion, were kept
alive. You give a difierent turn to the matter ; you say, «< that thir-
ty-two thousand women and children, were consigned to debauchery
by the order of Moses ;" prove this and I will allow that the Bible is
what you call it, << a book of lies, wickedness and blasphemy ;" prove
this, and I will allow that -Moses was the horrid monster you make
him ; prove this, or excuse my warmdi if I say to you as Paul said
to £l3rmas the sorcerer, who sought to turn aw^y Sei^us Paulus from
the (aith, <* O full of all subtlety and mischief, thou child of the devil,
thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the
right ways of the Lord !"
The Infidels of the present day prefer the charge of immorality
with an ill grace against Moses, because he commanded the female
children of the Midianites to be preserved, seeing that they themselves
acknowledge the necessary consequence of the jtriumph of die prin-
ciples advocated by them would be the abolishment of the law of
marriage. Nay, many of them already openly denounce marriage as-
tbe worst of all monopolies, and thereby they advocate universal licen-
tiousness and anarchy. But for the accusation that Moses encouraged
debauchery there is not the shadow of a foundation, and the urging of
it only proves that objectors of this class find it necessary to exag*
gerate^ in order to produce the efiect they desire. The books of
Moses did not allow the Israelites to debauch their female slaves, but
an Israelite was prohibited even from manying a captive, without
delays and previous formilities ; and if he afterwards divorced her, he
was bound to set her at liberty, because he had previously humbled
her, as may be seen by consulting Deuteronomy, xxi. 10 — 14. So
that nothing is more untrue than that Moses ordered thirty-^two thou-
sand of the female children to be preserved for the purposes of de^
baucheryt for such a conunand would have been in direct opposition
to the law of Moses ; and it is evident that the destruction of the other
Midianitish women was commanded that debauchery might be pre-
Tented. The reason assigned, is, that they had ahready enticed Israel
to sin; and it is a fact well established, that with the early heathen
naticms, numbers of lewd women were consecrated to fornication and
idolatry, vestiges of which are still to be found among the dancing
girls of Egypt and India. The women children were merciftdiy pre-
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Berved; not for the parposes of debauchery, but as memals in ihe fami*
lies of the Israelites.
Infidels object to the command given to the Israelites to extirpate
the Canaanites, that it was most cruel and unjust, and therefore un-
worthy the character of God. Mr. Olmsted on this subject says:
** What a conquest this was to be ! nothing that breathed was to be
left alive ; and this wanton destruction Moses told them, was at the
command of God ! What notions the author must have had of God!
No other cause is pretended to be assigned but such as the bloody
saints, Cortez and Pizarro, gave for the ^extermination of the innocent
and virtuous Aborigines. They were of a different religion ; their
God had not the same name ; they worshiped by different sacrifices."
Without detaining the reader to show the great dissimilarity between
the case of the Israelites and Canaanites, and that of the Spaniards and
unfortunate Peruvians, suffice it to say*, that the objection just stated
may be resolved into this question: Is it possible to believe that
Almighty God could give over one entire race of men to the swords
of another? The only difficulty in the case applies to the kind of
means employed for the execution of a great national judgment
There is the highest authority for asserting that the Canaanites were
a race of most depraved and incorrigible idolaters, whose morals,
from the most remote period, were polluted to a degree hardly to be
imagined ; «nd although to an Infidel it may appear of no importance
what is the religion of a nation, yet the history of 4he human race
most satisfactorily proves, that man will assimilate himself to the ob-
ject of his worship; their depravity and pollutions therefore' were the
result of their idolatry. They were descended from Canaan, the
grandson of Noah, and in direct opposition to the divine command,
they had taken possession of the land of Caitaan, which of right be-
longed to the Hebrews, and was now claimed by the Israelites as. its
lawful possessors. While they dwelt in that land the Canaanites
seem to have given themselves up entirely to the practice of every
sin which a depraved fancy could suggest. . Indeed, such was their
wickedness, that some of their cities in the da3rs of Abraham were
overwhelmed with fire from heaven, as if nothing short of the ex-
tinction of all animal and vegetable life could purify the polluted dis-
trict. From the date of that occurrence downwards, their guilt, so far
fiom diminishing, seems actually tO have increased. Their religion
was of the grossest and most debasing kind, the objects of their wor-
ship being some of the worst passions of human nature, at least the
ceremonies which that religion enjoined as acceptable to the gods can-
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OBJECTIONS ^STATED AND AN8WEBBD. S9T
not, without a violation of all decency, be described. Hnman sacri*
fices were of frequent recurrence among them ; they gave their own
children to be consumed in the furnace of Moloch ; in a word the
whole tenor of their existence was a series of offences against the
laws both of God and nature. Such then was the character of the
nsurpers who had taken possession of the land of Canaan. When
the Israelites came to receive the country of their fathers, they cei^
tainly had a right to use force if opposed. At that period and Ipng
after, it was a custom almost universally established, that adult males
taken in war were put to the sword, and the women and children
captured were enslaved. To have saved the women and childrmi
alone, would have been to expose the Israelites through their inflo>
ence to apostasy from the worship of Jehovah, and as a consequence,
to the pommission of the same abominations of which their predeces-
sors had been guilty.
The abominations of the Canaanites with which Jehovah had borne
during no fewer than four centuries, had budly called for the infliction
of divine punishment, and had he swept them from the earth by a
^Bimine, a pestilence, or a flood, no theist could for a moment deny
that he acted with perfect justice : or had he caused fire to have fallen
npon them from heaven, the ^ame admission must have been made.
Why then should it be urged that he acted in opposition to any one
of his known attributes, because he let loose yet another of his judg-
ments upon them, namely, war? for so far as they were affected
it was really the case. Who that has observed the workings of divine
providence is not prepared to admit, that in all ages of the world
wicked nations are punished for their iniquities by the instrumentality
of the swords of their enemies ? Witness the destraction of the Car-
thaginians, the descendants of the Canaanites, by Scipio-^the destruc-
tion of the Jews by Titus — and finally of the Romans themselves by
the northern hordes. The Israelites were to the Canaanites neiflier
more nor less than the instruments of punishment in the hands of the
great Ruler of the universe, who chose to slay them by the edge of flie .
sword rath^ than by pestilence or famine. And are we to be told that
die destruction of these idolaters, who sacrificed their own crying and
smiling infants— -who devoured human fleshr— who were addicted to
unnatural lusts and most flagitious crimes-«and were immersed in the
filthiness of all manner of vice-- -is inconsistent with the moral justice
of the Qovernor of the universe ? Nay, rather in their destruction did
not Jehovah give to the Israelites and all the surrounding nations such
a terrible proof of his abomination of vice, as could not fail to fill all
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evil doers with astonishment ,and terror, and to impress upon the
minds of the Israelites themselves what they mnst expect if they
followed the example of those he commanded them to cut off ! *< Te
riiall not commit any of these ahominations, that the land spue not
you out also, as it spoed out the nations that were before you."*
How strong and descriptive this language ! The vices of the inhabi-
tants were so abominable that the land was sick of them, and forced
to vomit them forth as the stomach disgorges a deadly poison-— how
solemn and impre^ive ike warning it gives to ihe Israelites !
But it is urged, that to subject women and children to the horrors
of war must be in direct opposition to divine justice. To this it is
replied, that the very same observation might be made in the case of
a famine or a plague. Sickness and famine spare neither age nor
•ex, yet sickness and famine are permitted by divine justice equally
with war. But, as abeady hinted, it is not to the case of the Canaan-
ites alone we are to look in this matter. The whole scheme of God's
providence must be examined in order to reach a correct conclusion;
and whea this is done it will be evident, that tremendous as the order
of massacre may sound, it was given for the wisest and beet of purposes.
The great object of Jehovah 'in his dealings with tha Israelites, as
has been repeatedly stated, was to keep up some knowledge of true re-
ligion, and gradually to prepare mankind for that better dispensation
which we enjoy. To effect this great design, it was indispensably
necessary to place before their eyes some sensible and striking proof
of God's abhorrence of idolatry — proofs which should affect them even
more powerfully than the denunciations from Mount Sinai or their
own treatment in die wilderness. Such proofe were given in die
command which emanated from God himself, that no quarter should
be shown to the Canaanites ; accompanied as the command was with
the declaration that they were devoted to destruction in punishment
of their crimes. This purpose could not have been equally served
had the Canaanites been destroyed by pestilence or famine previous
to the arrival of the Israelites, for no scene can make the same im-
pression on the mind as that in which we ourselves have been actors ;
and hence the effect of such a catastrophe, however vivid for the
moment, would have been far more likely to pass away than the
effect produced by a series of successful wars — the success of which
was made to depend upon the piety and obedience of those who
waged them.
Leviticos imiL 88.
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 290
We also learn from the Scriptures that the Canaanites were neither
utterly destroyed nor absolutely driven from their settlements, either
by Joshua or his immediate successors ; On the contrary, out of the
seven nations which possessed Palestine proper, one only, the Ger-
gashites, seems to have been entirely eradicated; by far the larger
proportion of them emigralSed into Africa, where they are supposed to
have established flourishing colonies. Numbers of ike others per-
ished indeed by the sword of the Israelites, but still larger numbers
remained to dispute for ages the possession of the land with the in*
taders. One reason for this is assigned by Moses when he saySf
that God would ilot drive out the nations from before his people all at
once, lest the beasts of the forest should multiply upon them.
Another reason is assigned by Joshua, not less conclusive than the
former, when he affirms that the Canaanites were permitted to remain
as trials of the faith and obedience of his brethren. In every pomt
of view, therefore, whether we look at the amount of suffering en*
dured by the vanquished, or the benefits accruing to the conquerors, ,
and through them to all mankind, it was far more consonant with the
wisdom and goodness of God that the Canaanites should suffer by the
sword of the Israelites, than that a pestilence or a famine should have
swept them from the face of the earth.
It should also be remembered that the utter destruction of the Ca-
naanites was to take place only in cases of obstinacy and resistance ;
this may be clearly inferred both from the reason of the denunciation,
and also from the several facts attending its execution. The reason
why they were to be cut off is stated in Deuteronomy xx. 18. " That
they teach you not to do after all their abominations ;" this reason
would not hold good if they repented and turned from their idols to
the worship of the God of Israel. Af\er the conquest of the country
we are told that <* There was not a city that made peace with the chil-
dren of Israel, save the Hivites, the inhabitants of.Gibeon; all others
they took in batde. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts,
that they should meet Israel in battle that he (i. e. Israel) might de-
stroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he
(Israel) might destroy them.'* This passage implies that the Ca-
naanites might have had peace if they had thought proper to accept
the proposed terms. They rejected the first offers of peace, and
were punished by Jehovah refusing them any further opportunities.
The case of the Gibeonites confirms this, inasmuch as it is difficult
to conceive that the oath and covenant, made to them in the circum-
stances of deception, should have been so valid and sacred, if the or-
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SeO OBJECTIONS STATED AND AN8WEBED.
der of their extinctioii admitted* of no limitatioii. The preservation
of Rahab sttid a family of Bethel, with some other instances, also in-
dine strongly to this expositioi^
It should further be remarked, that the destruction of the Canaan-
ites is not to be attributed wholly to the Israelites, even as instru-
ments. The Lord himself, partly by storms and tempests, pardy
by noxious insects, and pardy by creating terror in the minds of the
inhabitants, expelled and destroyed more perhaps than the Israelites
themselves. But if the command to destroy the Canaanites was
proved to be of the mo«t rigid character, and that the Israelites under
the warrant of that command spared neither age nor sex, it cannot
be denied that the Almighty has executed' on mankind judgments
6r more severe than this. As has already been shown by the attes-
tation of all ancient histories, both human and divine, he 'destroyed
by a deluge the whole human race with the exception of a solitary
fiunily.
^ The considerations adduced, it is believed, are suffident to justify
Joshua and the other Hebrews virho, at the divine command, engaged
in this war ; and it is worthy of special remark, that their history
proves that the Israelites were far from being a ferocious people; for
few nations, if any, ever engaged less frequently in offensive wars
than Israel did: their agricultural habits, with other circumstances,
operated against w^ of ambition and conquest But if any indi-
viduab, or even the nation at large, in some instances did betray a
ferocious spirit, they thereby violated their own laws, which enjoined
love to neighbors, strangers and enemies. Not a shadow of proof
can be adduced that Moses carried on war under the pretext of reli-
gion. He made no prosel3rtes by the sword ; and neidier he nor any
o^er person mentioned with approbation in Scripture, made war on
any nation beyond the bounds of the promised land because they
were idolaters.
Those who still object that the command to extirpate the Canaan-
ites is in opposition to God's moral justice, should bear in mind that
the destruction by earthquakes of Catana, Lima, Lisbon, and Hayti,
are equally repugnant to his moral justice ; for on these occasions
neither age nor sex were spared ; and upon this ground a person can
just as forcibly argue against the latter being facts as against ike for-
mer. And it should not be passed in silence, that the destruction of
the children of the Canaanites in their infancy, so far from being a
pvnishment, as Infidels represent, might be an act of great mercy,
since it might save them from the dreadful future punishment due to
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die aetaal guilt they would probaUy have incurred had they reached
maturity.*
Infidelr assert that the Old Testament Scriptures sanction adultery
and murder, because in 1 Samuel, chap. xiii. 14. David is called the
man after Qod's own heart; .and this phrase as applied to him has
been a fruitful source of sarcasm and reproach.
So far from the Scriptures authoring these crimes, the severest
denunciations are pronounced against tiiose who perpetrate them.
David is called «* the man after God's own heart" on account of his
strict attention to the law and worship of Qod ; in his recognition*
throughout his whole conduct, that Jehovidi was king in Israel, and
fbsLt he himself was only his vicegerent ; in never attempting to alter
any of those laws, or in the least degree to change the Israelitish con*
•tittttion. In his public official conduct, he acted according to the
]>ivine;Mind, and fulfilled the will of God. But the case of Samuel
will best explain the phrase as applied to David. Eli was rejected,
and Samuel chosen in his place, just as David superseded Saul. On
this occasion God said, " I will raise me up a faithful priest, that
shall do according to that which is in my heart*' And he who
aets agreeably to the Divine Will, it must be conceded, is ** a man af-
tei; God's own heart." This expression, however, is never used in
reference to his private or periorud moral conduct; but only in
reference to his uniform adherence to* the rites of the ceremonial
law and worship of Jehovah, notwithstanding all temptations to idol-
atry.
Infidels assert from 1 Kings, chap. xxxU. that Jehovah kept false
prophets as well as true ones. To this objection Mr. Home gives
the following satisfactory answer : " The most common attention to
the context, will show that this assertion is as false as it is malignant.
For, in the Jirst place, the four hundred prophets mentioned in that
chapter (verse 6.) were pretended prophets, whom the wicked king pf
Israel had in his pay, and who knew how to suit his humor and to
flatter his vanity, all agreeing in the same fawning compliances, and
in the same treacherous counsels, which pleased for the present, but
ultimately proved fatal. They are emphatically termed by Micaiah
(verse 23.) <* Ahab's prophets," notwithstanding they professed to be
the Lord's prophets, prophesying, in his name. And, secondly, the
address of Micaiah to the two confederated kings in verses 19^— 28t
• See Dr. Gkig's Hiitory of the BiUt, Home's Ihtrodiictaoii, and Dr. Orag^
ij's Lettcm.
2A
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802 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWEBBD.
It not a real representatioii of any thing done in the. hearenly woildt
as if the Almighty were at a loss for expedients, or had any hand in
the sins of his creatures ; hut it is a mere parable, and only tells in
figurative language what was in the womb of providence, the eventi
which were shortly to take place, and the pertnianon on the part of
God, for these agents to act. Micaiah did not choose to tell the an-
gry and impious Ahab that all his prophets were liars ; but he repre-
sents the whole by this parable, and says the same truths in language
equally forcible but less offensive."*
Infidels also object to the Scriptures, that in them God is repre-
sented as inspiring prophets with false messages, and as violating his
promises. To these gross and disgusting assertions, the same author
gives the following able reply : '* In the first place, with regard to
the charge of " inspiring prophets with false messages," (which is
founded on 1 Kings xxii. 28, 28 ; Jer. iv. 10. and Ezek. xiv. 0.)
we remark that it is a known idiom of the Hebrew language, to ex-
press things in an imperative and active form, which are to be under*
stood only permissively. 00 when " the. devils besought Christ thai
he would suffer them to enter into the herd of swine, he said unto
them, go ;" (Matt viii. 81.) he did not command, but permitted thenu
And so in John xiii. 27. where our Saviour says to Judas, <* What
thou dost, do quickly," we are not to understand that he commanded
him to betray him, tiiough tflat seemed to be expressed in the form.
So likewise here, where an evil spirit offered himself to be a lying
spirit in the mouth of the prophet, and God says, << Go forth and do
so," this only signifies a permission, not a command. And so (Jen
iv. 10.) where the prophet complains, that God had greaUy deceived
die people, saying, ** They should have peace, when tiie sword reach«
eft to the soul ;" we are to understand this no otherwise, but that GU>d
permitted the false prophets to deceive him, prophesying peace to
them as appears by the history ; (Ezek. xiv. 0.) " / the Lord have
deceived that prophet," that is, permitted him to be deceived, and to
deceive the peofde, as a just judgment upon tiiem for their infidelity
with respect to his true prophets. This he threatens at the 5th verse,
*< I will take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are
all estranged firom me through their idols ; because they have chosen
to themselves false gods, I will suffer them to be deceived with false
{Hophets ;" and that this is the meaning, appears by the threatening
added, ** Add I will stretch out my hand upon him, and I will destroy
* Home's Introdoctioii, p. 666.
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him from the midftt of my people ;'* now God will not panish that
of which he is the author.
That text (Jer. xx. 7.) " Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceiv*
edy*' signifies no more than that he had mistaken the promise of Qod
to him, who when he gave him his commission, told him he would
be with him, by whi^h he understood that no evil should come to
him, and ** now he was become a derision, and ,the people mocked
him/' and in his passion and weakness, he breaks forth into this ex*
pression, *' Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived /' whereas it
'was his own mistake of the meaning of God's promise, which was
not, that he should not meet with scorn, and opposition, and perse-
eutton, but that they should not prevail against him, as we may see
at the latter end of the first chapter.
Secondly^ With respect to the assertion that the Almighty violates
his promises, it has been objected that God did not give the children
of Israel all the land which he promised to Abraham, as will appear by
comparing Gen. xviii. 19, 20. with Josh. xiii. 1, &c., and Judges, ii.
20, 21. In Gen. xv. 18. God promised tb give Abraham and hii
seed iuch a landt the bounds of which he describes in Josh. xiii. 1.
It IB there said that there remained very much land yet unconquered,
of which they had not got possession. And in Judg. ii. 20. it is said,
that the people having not performed their part of the covenant, God
would suspend the further performance of his promise, and would not
drive out any more of the nations before tliem ; and it is probable that
the Israelites never were poeisessed of the .promised land in the full
latitude and extent of the promise.
Anawer, This covenant of God with Abraham was in considera-
tion of his past faith and obedience, though it seems the full perform-
ance of it did likewise depend upon the future obedience of his pos-
terity. In pursuance of his covenant, notwithstanding all the murmurs
and rebellions of that people, God did bring them into the promised
land, though they provoked him to destroy theih many a time, because
be remembered his covenant with Abraham. When they were possess-
ed of it, God gave them a title to the rest, and would have assisted them
in the conquest of it, if they had performed the condition required on
their part, that is, continued faithful and obedient to him ; but they did
not, and thereby discharged God from any further performance of his
promise ; and God, when he had done this, had fully performed the
covenant b» made with Abraham, so far as concerned his part, as ap-
pears by the acknowledgment of Joshua, even in a time when a great
part of the land was unconquered, (Josh. xxi. 44.) and of Solomon,
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304 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
(I Kings, viii. 56.) yea, and had it not been that God had made
this covenant, as well upon consideration of Abraham's faith and obe-
dience, as upon condition of the future obedience of his posterity, the
rebellions and disobedience of the people in the wilderness had re-
leased Qod wholly from the promise, and he would not have been
unfaithful if he had destroyed utterly that people, and made a full end
of them, and they had never entered into that land ; because a failure
of the condition makes the obligation to cease ; and that this condition
was implied in the covenant with Abraham appears fromT Deut vii.
13, 13. xi. 22—24, and Judg. ii. 20. God gives this reason why he
suspended die complete performance of his promise : T7u anger of
the Lord was hot against Israel, and he said. Because that this peo»
pie hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fatherSi
and have not hearkened to my voice, I also wiU not henceforth drive
out any ofihe nations which Joshua left when he died,*^*
The speaking of Balaam's ass has been a standing jest to Infidels
of every age. If the ass had opened its own mouth and reproved
the rash prophet, we might well be astonished ; but it should be re-
membered that the ass was only an instrument in the hands of the
Most High. In their extreme self-complacence. Infidels think that
the poor ass was a very unworthy instrument, and they assert that
the organic arrangement of the creature's parts rendered it impossible
for it to speak to the prophet. But an adequate cause is assigned for
this wonderful efiect ; for it is expressly said, that the Lord opened
the mouth of the ass; and it must be admitted that the power that
was able to create, may be admitted to be competent* to the accom-
plishment of any minor operation ; and the ass here, like the pillar of
cloud in the camp, was the mere shell, if we may so speak, while the
words that issued from the creature's mouth were the ofilspring of
Almighty volitions. The miracle was by no means needless or super-
fluous ; it was very proper to convince Balaam that the mouth and
tongue were under God's direction, and that the san^e divine power
which caused the dumb ass to speak, contrary to its nature, could
make him in like manner, utter blessings contrary to his inclination.
The fact is, it is as consonant to reason as any other extraordinary
operation ; for all miracles are alike, and equally deiliand onr assenti
if properly attested. The giving of articulation to a brute is no more
to the Deity than making the blind to see and the deaf to hear ; there*
fore the miracle rests its title to credibility on precisely «the same
* Horne'i lotroduction, pp. 660--668.
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oBJCcrnoNs stated and answered. sos
antfaority with the plagues of Egypt and the passage of the Red sea.
And the reputed baseness of the instrament of which God was pleased
to make use» amounts merely to this, that *< God had chosen the fool*
ish things of the world to confound the wise.*'' There was therefore
a peculiar fitness in the instrument used, for the more vile the means
were, the fitter they were to confound the unrighteous prophet
The miracle of the sun standing still upon Mount Gibeon, and the
moon in the valley of Ajalon, Mr. Paine treats as a silly fable. He
says, " This tale of the sun standing still upon Mount Gibeon, and
the moon in the valley of Ajalon, is one of those fables that detects
itself. Such a circumstance could not have happened without being
known all over the world. One half would have wondered why the
sun did not rise, and the other why it did not set ; and the tradition
of it would be universal, whereas there is not a nation in the world
that knows any thmg about it. But why must the moon stand still ?
What occasion could there be for moonlight in the day time, and that
too while the sun shined ? As a poetical figure^ the whole is well
enough ; it is akin to that In the song of Deborah and Baruk, 77ke
Biars in their courses fought againet Sisera; but it is inferior to the
figurative declaration of Mahomet, to the persons who came to ex-
postulate with him on his going on, Wert thou^ said he, to come to
me unth the stai in thy right hand and the moon in they Uftj it
should not alter my carter. For Joshua to have exceeded Mahomet,
he should have put the sun and moon one in each pocket, and carried
them as Guy Fawkes carried his dark lantern, and ts&en them out to
shine as he might happen to want them.
The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is
difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes
ihie ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime
again; the account, however, abstracted from the poetical fancy,
shows the ignorance of Joshua, for he should have commanded the
earth to have stood still."
It should be recollected, that the sacred historiaiv expressly relates
this as a miracle : it is therefore impossible to account for it on phi-
losophical principles ; it must be resolved wholly into the power of
God, who hearkened to the voice of ^ man to stop the luminaries in
their diurnal courses, (or the earth's rotation,) and by prolonging the
day of battle, to make them fight for IsraeL From the circumstances
<^ the narrative, we may collect the 4ime of the day and the month
when it happened, viz, soon after sun-rise, and when the moon '
rather past the full.
2a2 89
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306 OBJECTIONS 8TATBD AND ANSWERED.
Joehna, when recommended by the Gibeonitea to come to their aid
against the confederate kings, went up to Gilgal aU rdghtf and came
suddenly (we may conclude about day-break) upon the enemy, whom
he discomfited with great slaughter, and chased along the way from
Gibeon to Beth-boron, in a westerly direction, the Lord co-operating
in their destruction by a tremendous shower of great haij-stones,
which slew more than the swords of the Israelites, but did not touch
the latter. <
In this situation, the sun appeared to rise oyer Gibeon eastward,
and the moon to set over Ajalon westward, near the Mediterranean
sea, in the tribe of Dan, when Joshua, moved by a divine impulse,
> uttered this invocation in the presence of Israel : <* Am, stand thou
still over Gibeon ; and thou moon over the valley of Ajalon.** So the
sun stood still in the hemisphere (at its rising,) and hasted not to go
down (at its setting) about a whole day ; which in that latitude, and
shortly after the vernal equinox, might have been about thirteen hours
long, thus giving him daylight for tiie destruction of his enemies for
twenty-six hours, during which he took the city of Makkedah, and
slew five kings who had hid themselves in a cave near it.*
The object of this miracle was of the most important nature. The
sun and the moon, the two principal gods of the idolatrous heaven
nations, were ^commanded to yield miraculous obedience to the chief
servant of the true God, and thereby to contribute to the more effect-
ual conquest of their own worshipers. It was a miracle of the same
description as those which had been wrought in Egypt With re-
spect to the objections to the consequences, it is jusdy observed by
Bishop Watson, that " The machine of the universe is in the hand
of God ; he can stop the motion of any part, or of the whole, with
less trouble than either of us can stop a watch.** How absurd then,
the reasonings of these men who believe in the existence of an om-
nipotent God, yet deny the possibility of the exertion of his power
in other ways than are known to their limited experience.f
But it is urged that the language of Joshua is in opposition to the
philosophy of nature, therefore the narrative must be untrue. Dr.
Clarke gives the following satisfactory reply to this objection.
*< I consider the present accredited system of the universe, called
Pythagorean, Oopemican, or Newtonian system, to be genuine ; and
also to be the system of the universe laid down in the Mosaic wri-
tings ; that the sun is in the centre of what is called the solar system*
* Joih. chap. z. 1—38. f Towmend*! Anangemeiit of the Old Teftament
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zdA that die Mrihf and all the other planetiy whether primary or
seeondarjfj move round him in certain periodical times, according to
the quantity of their matter, and distance from him, their centre.
I consider the sun to have no revolution roond any er&i^, hut to
revolve round his own axity and round the common centre of gravity
in the planetary system, which centre of gravity is included within
his own surface; and in all other respects I consider him to be at
rest in the system. I consider the solar influence to be the cavsb
both of the annual and dmrrud motion of the earth, and that while
that influence continues to act upon it, according to the law which
God originally impressed on both the earth and the sun, the annual
and diurnal motions of the earth must continue ; and that no power
but the unlimited power of God, can alter this influence, change or
suspend the operation of this law ; but that He is such an infinitely
rsBX AOBNT that He can, when his unerring wisdom sees good, alter,
suspend, or even annihilate all secondary causes and theur effects ; for
it would be degrading to the perfections of his nature to suppose that
he had so hound kimself by Uie laws which he has given for the pre-
servation and direction of universal nature, that he could not change
them, alter their effects, or suspend their operations, when gceater
and better effects, in a certain time or plactf might be produced by
such temporary change or suspension.
I consider that no evil was done by this miraculous interference, nor
any law or property of nature ultimately changed ; on the contrary, a
most important good was produced, which probably, to this people,
could not have been brought about any other way, and that therefore
the miracle wrought on this occasion was highly worthy of the wisdom
and power of God. I consider that the terms in the text, employed
t> describe this miracle, are not, when rightly understood, contrary to
the wen established notions of the true system of the universe. I
have ahready assumed^ as a thoroughly demonstrated truth, that the
^san is in the centre of the system, mov^lg only round his own axis,
and the common centre of the gravity of the planetary system, while
sS the planets revolve round him ; that his influence is the cause of the
diurnal and annual revolutions of the earth ; nor can I see what other
purpose his revolution round his own axis can possibly answer.
I consider that the orignal word in the text refers to the withhold-
ing or restraining this influence, so that the eessation of the earth's
^notion might immediately take place. The desire of Joshua was,
that the sun might not sink below the horizon ; but, as it appeared
BOW to be over Gibeon, and the moon to be over the valley of Ajalon,
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306 OBJEOnONB STATED AND ANSWERED.
he praydd that they might continue in these positions till the batda
dioold be ended; or* in other words, that the day shoved be miraco-
lonsly lengthened out
He certainly spc^ as if he had known that the solar inflaence was
the cause of the earth's rotation, and therefore, with the strictest phi-
losophical propriety, he requested that that influence might be for a
time restrained, that the diurnal motion of the earth might be arrested,
through which alone the sun could be kept above the horizon, and
day be prolonged. His mode of expression evidendy considers the
sun as the great ruler or master in the system, and all the planets,
(or at least the earthy) moving in their respective orbits, at his com^
mand. He, therefore, desires him, (in the name and by the authori-
^ of his Creator,) to suspend his mandate with respect to the earth's
motion, or that of its satelite, the moon. Had he said, earthy stand
thou s^t/?— the cessation of whose digmal motion was the effect of his
conunand— it could not have obeyed him, as it is not even the
secondary causfe, either of its annual motion round the sun, or its di*
unud motion round its own axis. Instead of doing so, he speaks to
the sun, the cause (under God) of all these motions, as his great
archetjrpe did, when in the storm on the sea of Tiberias, he rebuked
Ae wind first, and then said to the waves^ Peace ! be stOl ! and as it
is in the original, be silent! be dumb! Mark iv. 39; and the effect
of this command was, a cessation of the agitation in the sea, because
the wind -ceased to command it, that is, to exert its influence upon
the waters. The terms in this command are worthy of particular
note : Joshua does not say to the sun, stand stilly as if he had con-
ceived him to be running his race round the earthy but, be silent, or
inactive, that is as I understand it, restrain thy influence, no longer
act upon the earth, to cause it to revolve round its axis ; a mode of
speech which is certainly consistent with the strictest astronomical
knowledge : and the writer of the account, whether Joshua himself,
or the author of the book of Jasher^ in relating the consequence of this
command, is equally accurate, using a word widely different, when
he speaks of the effect the retention of the solar influence had on the
moon : in the first case, the sun was silent^ or inactivCf in the latter^
the moon stood stUL The standing still of the moon, or its continu-
ance above the horizon^ would be the natural effect of the cessation
of the solar influence, which obliged the earth to discontinue her diur-
nal rotation, which of course would arrest the moon, and thus both it
and the sun were kept above the horizon probably for the space of a
whole day. As to the address to the moonf it is not conceived in HA
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ftame terms as that to the tun^ and for the most obyions philosophic^
reasoHs: all that is said is simply, and the moan on the vale of
jSjalonf which may be thus imderstood : « Let the sun restrain his in*
fluence, or be inactive, as he appears now upon Gibeon, that the
moon may continue as she appears now over Ajalon.' It is worthy
of remark, that every word in this poetic address 10 apparently select-
ed with the greatest caution and precision."*
Again, it is objected that if the sun should stand still for a single
instant, or the movement of the globe was retarded, not only the heir
ligerent armies, but every thing on the face of the earth would have
been swept away like ehaff before the wind. But it is the objection
which is an errot ; for if the miracle instead of suddenly arresting in
4m imtani the rotation of the globe, took only the short space of a
iew seconds to accomplish it, by a gende and continuous action, then .
there is enough in this smgle circumstance to show that such a phe-
nomenon could not have mechanically any other sensible effect than
to cause, from west to east, the waters to spread over the surface of
the earth.
It is well known, that a carriage in rapid motion, rushing against
an impediment, may be dashed to pieces ; because the impediment is
immovable, and all the travelers thrown out forward will be hurled
to the ground. But let it be stopped by a continuous resistance^
which is applied gradually for three or four seconds : then the small*
est children seated in the vehicle will remain unshaken from their
teats ; they will not even be aware of the impulse, which three se*
eonds before, they were receiving froin the impetuous movement of
the horses, and which, without this precaution, must have been suf*
ficient to throw them to a great distance.
Mr. Gaussen, treating on this subject, says : " The rotation ef the
earth is, at the equator, at the rate of fourteen hundred and twenty*
six feet a second ; at Jerusalem twelve hundred and twelve feet It
is the speed of a bullet at th.e moment of leaving a cannon, diseharg*
ed by one-fifth of its own weight of powder.
It is capable (deducting the effect of atmospheric resistance,) of
elevating this projectile to the extreme height of twenty-four thousand
feet, and yet a child of six years, in two-thirds of a minute, could*
without danger, destroy all this force by the elastic and continued ac-
tion of its fingers. Commit to its litde hands an eight pound cannon
ball, for forty seconds ; and, during the same time, let another of the
* Dr. Claike's Commwitariiw.
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fame weight iiU freely throogfa the air, and from the height of moaal
Himalaya. At the end of only forty seconds, the weight, after har-
ing acted by the same impulse upon the one and the other of these
projeetilest shall merely, in regsmi to the first, have wearied the fee-
ble fingers which hold it ; whtte it shall have imparted to the other a
npidity of motion, equal to that of the rotation of the earth, impress-
ed on the hill of Bethoron in the latitude of Jerusalem. The child
does not imagine that he has been able, in two-thirds of a minute, to
destroy, by the continued action of his litde hand, a force capable of
projecting a ball eight thousand feet higher than Mount Blanc, and of
cutting down at an immense distance, squadrons and ramparts in the
day of battle !
Thus then, if Ood should hare employed no more than forty se-
conds, in the days of Joshua, to arrest by a supple and successive re-
sistance the movement of our globe, the projecting impulse from west
to east, which a mass of iron of eight pounds would have felt in the
plain of Bethoron, would have been no stronger than the pressure felt
to-day by the hand upon which you lay such a weight And if the
mass, instead of having the form of a bullet, had had that of a quoit
or of a cube, there would not have been enough of that impulse to
make it overcome the resistance of friction, and change its face upon
the surface of the ground.
It will perhaps be objected, that the rotation of the globe at Betho-
fon was twenty-seven times more rapid than the movement of a
steam-carriage upon a rail-road. True, but since the retarding force
necessary to exhaust a given impulse, is in inverse proportion to the
time employed, suppose the miracle accomplished in eighteen mi-
nutes ; take eighteen minutes instead of forty seconds, to stop entire-
ly the movement of the terrestrial globe at the command of Joshua,
and then *' the contending armies instead of being swept away as by
the tempest,'' would no more have felt what was passing, than do, at
each station, the thousands of travelers who are stopped upon a rail-
road."*
In 2 Kings, chap. zx. 11., it is written that << Isaiah the prophet
cried unto the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward,
by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz." This passage has
also been objected against as incredible. It should be noticed that it
n not the sun, but the shadow which is said to have gone down, and it
n not hours, but ten degrees of the dial, which the shadow returned.
* GauMen on the In^piiation of the Scriptoree.
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Mr. Sleigh on this subject says : '< In order to accomplish this mir-
ade, there was no necessity whateyer» either for the sun himself to
have gone back in the heavens, nor the earth to have turned back on its
axiSf from ecut to we$L The power, possessed by all bodies, in pro*
portion to their density, 'more or less to refract the rays of light,
can sufficiently account for this phenonemon. All the Deity had to
do, was to collect a quantity of vapors between the sun's rays and the
dial, and the object would be immediately accomplished. The sun
seldom ever rises or sets, but this^ effect by refraction, is, to a certain
degree, produced. For the sun often appears above the horizon,
when he is actually behw it, and literally out of sight Now as to
the ten degrees not implying hours, is satisfactorily proved. For
Ahai's dial consisted of eleven steps, five on two sides each, and one
on the top, placed parallel to the horizon, and each step was divided
into degrees. It is highly probable then, that ten degrees were
equivalent to fifteen minutes. On the top of the steps was a perpen-
dicular gnomon. All the operations of this dial are determined by the
foint of the shadow projected from the gnomon on the steps of the
diaL See Dr. Adam Clarke's Notes on 2nd Kings xx. 11.*
. k ,
rT-\
The height of this dial was about four feet and a half; that is, allowing six'
inches for each step, and twelve inches for the ttile*
Infidels object to the credibility of the Old Testament Scriptures,
on account of the narrative of the witch of Endor, recorded in 1 Sam.
diap. xxviii. Mr. Bryant informs us, that Endor is derived from Erk'
Jidor, and that the term signifies the oracle of the god Ador. The
Hammian race, as has already been shown, were the inventors of the
idol worship which spread through India, Egypt, Greece, and Italy.
The Canaanites were a branch of that race ; and the probability is,
diat this oracle had been founded by them, and was not totally sup-
pressed in the days of Saul. Wherever the Hindoo idolatry prevailed,
such oracles were numerous. The most famous were those of Jupi-
* Sleigh's Defensive Dictionary, pp. 180, 181.
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IIS OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
ter Ammon in Libya, and Delphi in Greece. In all of them, the
answers to those who consnlted them were given from the mouth of
ft female, who, from the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, has generally
received the name of Pythia ; such an one, with its Pythia, was this
at Endor. The design of all these shrines was to impose upon tibe
ereduMty and superstition of idolaters ; and that the witch of Endor,
or the Pythia of this oracle^ possessed no power to call forth the spi^
its of the departed, is evident from her astonishment and fright upon
beholding Samuel, whom God, from reasons unknown to us, permitted
to appear to SauL Had she the least expectation that Samuel would
appear — had she ever called up the departed spirit of any human,
being— or had Samuel atually not appeared, there would have been
no account of her fright and astonishment. And it should be ob-
served, that the narrative gives no intimation that she brought up
Samuel.
End of Volume I.
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THE
CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE,
CONTAIHINO
A FAIR STATEMENT, AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION
or THl
LEADING OBJECTIONS UlSES BT INFIBEI8
AOAIN8T THB
ANTIQUnT, GENUINENESS, CRBDIBILITY AND INSPIRATION
• V TBJI
HOLY SCRIPTUBBS;
buriohsd with oopioub sztraots fbom leabnbo authors.
BY JAMES SMITH.
^s»»^^»^/»^»v^»<oA^»»<v
•«The Chrittian FaUk,
UnlflM the thn^rou ereeda of pacta priettf.
It ftank* fUiidf forth to view* inThing all
To PM>ve» •xamine* Matab* inTefltigaie ;
And gave henalf a liffht to wo her bj.**— FfOflcf « OmfM pf TlaMi B. Iv.
*'If I have doao well, and as it fitting the atOTT, it ii that which I deaired; bat if
aad manly, it ii that whiob I coald attain ■nto.**-4 AfuabMa zr. 38.
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE.
VOL. II.
CINCINNATI:
8TEREQTTPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A JAMES.
1843.
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THE
CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE,
0SitUM*]IX889 AUTHBNTICITT AND CREDIBILITT OF THE NIW TB0TA*
mifT SCRIFTIIBB8*
CHAPTER I.
To eight Jews, who wrote in diffisrent parts of ihe woild, and tl
interrals in the extremes of about fifty years apart, we are indebted
for twenty-seven t^ti, which collemively are called die New Tbita*
■Birr, or more strictly, the Nbw Co?bnant.
This title, it is conceded, was neither given by divine command,
nor yet was it apf^ed to these writings by the writers themseljres |
but it was adopted by GhristiaBs so early as ike second centnry , and it
is justified by several passages in the writings : thus, in Matt, iixvi.
28, it is said, '^Tliis is my bkod of the newritstrnnent^^^ or new
covenant; and tt is paiticuhrly warranted by St. Paul, who calls thd
doctrine^ precepts, and promises of the Gosp^ dispensation, the
New CovEKANVy in opposition to fhose of the Mosaic dispensation^
which he terms the Ol» Covenant, as may be seen by c<»sglling
2 Cor. chap. iii. 6 — 14. The term New CoTenant is not inv>
properly rendered New Tessament, because it has been proved that
the first Christians used the term in the sense of a testament, and the
Latin version, which, as will yet be shoim, is of great antiqoity,
renders the weids, Matt xxvi. 26, as guiMid ahove, «< Hie enim est
sanguis meus Novi Testamenti.'*
Christians hold the New Testement to be that in which their in-
heritance is sealed to them as the sons and heirs of God, and in which
the death of Christ, as a testator, is related at large, and applied to
their benefit. Many Infidels boldly and shamelessly deny €ie anti-
quity claimed by each of the tracts which constitute the New Testa-
ment, L e., they deny that they /nrere written in the first century, cr
by the persons U> whom they are ascribed. If they can establish the -
truth of their assertion, it Mows that the writers were impostors, and
% %
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4 AUTHENTICITY Ain) CREnDIILITY OF
the religion tangkt by them a base and cruel fraud practised upon
mankind*
Should any man or set of men assert, that Cyrus, Alexander, or
Julius Cssar never existed, and that their histories, as recorded by
Tarioui ancient writers, are forgeries of later years, their assertions
would be treated by all intelligent persons wilb contempt and derision.
That Jesus Christ flourished in Judea during flie Augustan age, and
that the writers of the New Testament were his contemporaries, are
facts much better supported and aithenticated than that there lived
such men as Cyrus, Alexander, and Julius C»sar ; yet the very boldr
ness and recklessness of the enemies of Christianity starde the enqui-
rer afier truth, and produce in the minds of many a disposition to
vndervalue the evidence by which the genuineness and authenticity
of the writings of the New Testament are supported ; for although it
is of the same kind, and in degree vastly superiior to the evidence of
the histories of Cyrus, Alexander, and Julius Caesar, yet the very cir-
cumstance of its having been questioned has annexed a suspicion to it.
Dr. Chalmers, tieating on this subject, says, ** At all points of the ques-
tion there has been a struggle and a controversy. Every ignorant objec-
tion, and every rash and petulant observation, has been taken up and
commented upon by the defenders of Christianity. There has at last
been so much said about it, that a general feeling of insecurity b apt
to accompany the whole investigation. There has been so much
fighting, that Christianity is now looked upon as debatable ground.
OAer books, where die evidence is much inferior, but which have
had the advantage of never being ijuestioned, are received as of estab-
lished authority. It is striking to observe the perfect ecmfidence with
which an Infidel will quote a passage from an ancient historian. He
pediaps does not overrate the credit due to him. But present him
with a tabellated and comparative view of all the evidences that can be
adduced for the gospel of Matthew^ and any profane historian which
he chooses to fix upon, and let each distinct evidenee be discussed
upon no other principle than the onMnary and approved principles of
criticism, we assure him that the mcied history would far outweigh
the profane in the number and value of its testimonies."
The same author elsewhere says, *« Had the suliject not been
sacred, and had the same testimony been given to the facts connected
with it, we are satisfied that the history of Jesus given in the New
Testament, would have been looked upon as the best supported by
evidence of any history that has come down to us. It would assist
us in appieciating the evidence for the truth of the gospel history, if
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIFTUREa 5
we ooold conceive for a moment, Ihat Jesus, instead of being die
fonnder of a new religion, had been merely the founder of % new
school of philosophy, and that the different histories which have come
down to us had merely represented him as an extraordinary person,
who had rendered himself illustrious among his countr3rmen by the
wisdom of his sayings and the beneficence of his actions. We ven-
ture to say, that had dus been the case, a tenth part of the testimony
which has actually been given would have been enough to satisfy us.
Had it been a question of mere erudition, where neither a predilection
in favor of religion nor an atipathy against it could have impressed a
bias in any one direction, the testimony,' both in weight and quantity,
would have been looked upon as quite unexampled in the whole com*
pass of ancient literature."* Therefore, to form a fair estimate of the
strength and decisiveness of the Christian argument, the reader should
if possible divest himself of every prejudice for or against Christianity.
The first will cause the mind to be suspicious of itself; for the predi-
lection felt will create an apprehension that it has thereby been dis-
posed to cherish a particular conclusion, independently of the evi-
dences by which it is supported. The last will dispose to annex sus-
picion and distrust to the testimony of the Christian writers ; every
author who writes in defence of Christianity is supposed to be a
Christian, and with those who indulge a prejudice against Chris-
tianity this has the effect to weaken the impression of his testimony.
Dr. Chalmers says, '*This suspicion affects, in a more remarka-
ble degree, the testimony of the first writers on the side of Christi-
anity. In opposition to it, you have no doubt to allege the circum-
stances under which the testimony was given ; the tone of sincerity
which runs through tiie performance of the author; the concurrence
of other testimonies ; the persecutions which were sustained in adher-
ing to them, and which can be accounted for on no other principle
than the power of conscience and conviction ; and the utter impossi-
bility of imposing a false testimony on the world had they been dis-
posed to do it. Still -there is a lurking suspicion, which often sur-
vives the strength of all argument, and which it is difficult to get rid
of, even afler it has been demonstrated to be completely unreasonable.
He is a Christian ? He is one of the party ! Am I an Infidel T I
persist in distrusting the testimony ! Am I a Clnristian ? I rejoice
in the strength of it ! But this very joy becomes matter of suspicion
to a scrupulous enquirer. He feels something more than the concur*
* Dr. GhalnMor Piindplefl of Hintorical Eridenoe.
2b3 3
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I AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITr OF
veoce of his belief in the testimony of the writer. He catches the
infection of his piety and his moral sentiments. In addition to the
acquiescence of the understanding, there is a ^on amore feeling both
*in himself and in his author, which he had rather been without, be-
cause be feels it difficult to compute the precise amount of its influ-
ence ; and the consideration of this restrains him from that clear and
decided ccmdusion which he would infallibly have landed in, had it
been purely a secular investigation.'* *
Having thus paved the way for the investigation of the genuine-
ness, authenticity, and credibility of the New Testament Scriptures,
we are prepared to lay before the reader the assumptions of the Infi-
del. As has been already stated, they assert that the books of the
New Testament were not written in the first century. This asser-
tion however is of a modem date. The Infidels of ancient times
urged no such objections : they not only acknowledged that such a
person as Jesus Christ did exist, and during the Augustan age, but
Celuis and Porphyry who flourished, the first in the second, and the
last in the third century, mention the writings of the New Testament
and quote from them.
Toland is charged with having betrayed, in his life of Milton, a
suspicion that the writings of the New Testament are forgeries : but
in his defence of the life of Milton, he disavows, by the words on
which the charge is grounded, his having meant the writings which
we receive as inspired. An anonymous Italian ventured, in a letter
to Le Clerc, to throw out the following suspicion : ** It is possible
that in the fifth century, about the time when the Goths ovevan Italy,
four men of superior understanding might unite in inventing and forg-
ing the writings of the Apostles, as well as of the fathers, and falsify
some passages of Josephus and Suetonius, in order to introduce into
the world, by means of this fraud, a hew and more rational religion."
This sceptic attributes to these four men, (who by the way must have
been very conversant in Jewish theology, and both Jewish and heath-
en antiquity,) the immense labor of forging all the writings, not only
of the New Testament, but of all the fathers, including Eusebius* his-
tory of the Christian church, and of inventing that diversity of style
and sentiment by which they are distinguished from each other. But
less than this he could not have done ; for his credulity, which Infi-
dels afiect to call by the name of unbelief, would have been shocked
by the testimony of all the fathers, had he confined his imputation of
* Dr. Ghalmera' Principles of Historical Evidence.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPT(JRE8. j
forgery to the writings of the New Testament alone. This suspi-
cion, however, has been openly thrown oat, only by ihose Infidels
who are impudently injrincible by truth and argument. Mr. Gibbon,
one of the most virulent enemies of Christianity, but whose acquaint-
ance with the laws of evidence forbade his subscribing to aft asser-
tion so palpably absurd, says, ««It has been observed with truth as
well as propriety, that the conquests of Rome prepared and facilitated
those of Christianity.
Th^ authentic histories of the actions of Christ, were composed in
the Greek language, after the Gentile converts were grown extremely
numerous. As soon as those histories were translated into the Latm
tongue, they were perfectly intelligible to all the subjects of Some,
excepting only to the peasants of Syria and Eg3rpt, for whose benefit
particular versions were afterwards made, llie public highways,
which had been constructed for the use of the legions, opened an ea*
gy passage for the Christian missionaries from Damascus to Corinth,
and from Italy to the extremity of Spain or Britain.
There is the strongest reason to believe that before the reigns of
Diocletian and Constantino, the faith of Christ had been preached in
«very province and in all the great cities of the empire. The rich
provinces that extend from the Euphrates to the Ionian sea, were the
principal theatre on which the apostle of the Gentiles displayed his
zeal and piety. The seeds of the Gospel, which he had scattered in
a fertile soil, were diligently cultivated by his disciples ; and it should
seem, that during the two first centuries, the most considerable body
of Christians was contained within those limits. Among the societies
which were instituted in Syria, none were more ancient or more illus-
trious than those of Damascus, of Berea or Aleppo, and of Antioch*
The prophetic introduction of the Apocalypse has described the seven
churches of Asia ; Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Laodioet,
Smyrna, and Philadelphia, and their colonies were soon diffused over
that populous country. In a very early period, the islands of Cyprus
and Crete, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia, gave a favorable
reception to the new religion; and Christian republics were soon
founded in the cities of Corinth, of Sparta, and of Athens. To these
domestic testimonies we may add the confessions, the complaints, and
the apprehensions of the Gentiles themselves.
£iom the writings of Lucian, a philosopher who had studied man-
kind, and who describes their manners in the most lively colors, we
may learn that under the reign of Commodus, his native country of
Pontus was filled with Epicureans and Christians. Within fouiHscore
2
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8 AUTHENncmr and cbedibilitt of
yean after the death of Christ, the humane Pliny laments the magni-
tude of the evil which he vainly attempted to eradicate* In his very
curious epistle to the emperor Trajan, he affirms that the temples
were almost deserted, that the sacred victims scarcely found any pur-
chasers, and that the superstition had not only infected the cities, but
had even spread itself into the villages and the open country of Pon-
tus and BiUiynia."*
Mr. Volney, whose philosophy elevated him above all vulgar preju-
dices in favor of historical testimony, and with whom the well known
laws of moral evidence had no weight, lays it down as a clear case,
that no such person as Jfesus Christ ever lived in this world ; and on
that position framed a theory, which, on the pain of being ridiculed as
a generation of credulous dupes, his readers were forthwith required
to adopt. It is, that the Divine personage whom Christians, during
.the space of eighteen centuries, have ignorantly revered as their cru-
cified Redeemer, is neither more nor less than the sun in the firma-
ment; that the Virgin Mary is one of the signs of the zodiac, viz.
the constdlation Virgo : and that the crucifixion of Christ by Pontius
Pilate, and his resurrection from the dead on the third day* are nod^
ing more than the sun's declension to the winter solstice, and his sub-
sequent return to the summer solstice, through the vivifying season
of ^ring. This absurd theory has been adopted, defisnded, and ex-
tensively propagated by Mr. Robert Taylor of London, formerly m
minister of the Church of England, whose malevolence and scurrility,
are only equalled by his utter disregard of truth and destitution of
moral principle.
This man's great parade of learning and authority, and his osten-
tatious references to the titles of books, to chapters, pages, and pas-
sages, marked as quotations, when in fact the books and passages
referred to, say no such thing as he imputes to them, but the very
contrary; while the professed quotations are grossly felsified, are
admirably calculated to deceive the unwary, and justify the conclusion
that he is a wilfrd and malicious deceiver.
The positions of this man will be better understood, from the fol-
lowing manifesto puUished in London some years ago.
** Our reverened orator, a regular and canonically ordained clergy-
man of the established church, hath publicly challenged all ministers
and preachers (and hereby repeats the challenge) to come forward and
show, if they can, the contrary of the four grand propositions, which
• QiUxm'f His. of die DmUob and Fall, voL 3. dnp. xr. p. 867.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCBIPTURES. 9
in ihe society's manifesto, «< to all clergymen, ministers, and preachers
of the gospel,'' are declared to have been, as far as to us appeared,
ihlly and unanswerably demonstrated. Tbe propositions are,
I. That the Scriptures of the New Testament, were not written by
the persons whose names they bear.
n. That they did not appear in the times to which they refer.
ni. That the persons of whom they treat, never existed.
IV. That the events, which they relate, never happened.
Of these propositions, the proofs are —
I. That the Scriptures of the New Testament were not, &c.—
Because it cannot be shown, by any evidence, that they were *' writ-
ten by the persons whose names they bear ;" and, because it can be
shewn by evidence, both external and internal, that they were writ-
ten by other persons. By evidence external — ^In the formal acts and
edicts of Christian emperors, bishops, and councils, issued from time
to time, for the general alteration, or total renovation of these Scrip-
tures, according to their own caprice. [^Note — Such were those of
the emperors Constantine and Thodosius, and this of the emperor
Anastasius : ** When Messala was consul, (that is in the year of
Christ, 506,) at Constantinople, by order of the emperor Anastasius,
the Holy Gospels, as being written by illiterate evangelists, are cen-
sured and corrected." — ^Victor Tununensis, an African bishop, quot-
ed by Lardner, vol. 3, p. 97. See also an account of a general al*
teration of these Scriptures, *' to accommodate them to the fkiih of the
orthodox," by LanFranc, archbishop of Canterbury, as recorded by
Beausobre. — Historic de Manichee, vol. i. p. 343.3 And in the ad-
missions of the most learned critics and divines, as to the alterations
which these Scriptures have, from time to time, undergone. [Note
-—Admissions of the most learned critics. 1st, «' There were in the
manuscript of the New Testament, one hundred and thirty thousand
various readings." — Unitarian New Version, p. 22. 2nd, *• The man-
uscripts from which the received text was taken, were stolen by the
librarian, and sold to a sky-rocket maker, in the year 1749." — Her-
bert Marsh, bishop of Peterborough, vol. ii. p. 441. 3rd, For the
most important passage in the book of Revelation, there was no ori-
ginal Greek at aU, but *' Erasmus wrote it himself in Switzerland,
in the year 1516." — ^Bishop Marsh, vol. 1, p. 320.] By evidence in-
ternal— ^In die immoral, vicious, and wicked tendency of many pas-
sagii therein remaining, and by the insertion of others, whose only
drift is to enhance the powers of kings and priests. [iVb^e— Immor-
al, &c. See Romans iii. 7. ; Epistle John ii. 10. ; Hebrews xii#
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10 AUTHBNnomr and cbedibiutt or
M. ; Hebrew! ziu. 17.; Bomani xiii.; 1 Peter iL It.; Lake zm
26., Sic.']
IL That Ihey did not i^pear in the times to which they lete, ie
demonftrable« By eridenee, external — ^In the expiMe admiMions of
eodesiaatioal historians, of their utter inability to show when, or
where, or by whom, this collection of writings was fint made.
[iVbte— See Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History; Jones on the Canon.
^., passim.] And in the admissions of the most learned critics, as
to the infinitely sospicious origination of the present Received Text*
[[iVb/^— Received Text, ^. <' The Received Text rests on the an*
tfiority of no more than twenty or thirty manoscripts, most of which
are of little note." — ^Unitarian Version, Introdoction 10. ^ It was
completed by the Elzevir edition of 1634 ;" ib. Mark well ! the re-
taining therein, and circulating as the word of Gknl, with consent or
connivance of all parties, several passages known and admitted by aU.
to be forgeries and lies ; 1 John, ver. 7. ; 1 Tim. iiL 16.'^ExceUettl
morality this ! !] By evidence internal— In innumeraUe texts tfieio-
in contained, betra3ring a comparatively modem character, referring to
circumstances, which did not exist till later ages, and quoting other
Scriptures, which had previously formed the faith of the first Chris-
tian churches, but which, without any assignable reason, or ^eged
authority, have since been rejected. [iVofe— Comparatively modem,
Ac See 2 Epist. John 9. ; 1 Tim. iii. a. ; James t. 14. ; Matt*
xviiL 17. ; 1 Corinth, xv. 7. 32. ; 1 Peter iv. 6.]
IIL That the persons of whom they treat, never existed ; becanse
demoniacs, devils, ghosts, angeli, hobgoblins, [iVb/e— Hobgoblins.
See Acts xix. 15.] persons who had once heea dead, w^ could
wfdk on water, ride in the air, SiCf such as Satan and Jesus
Christ, are the persons of whom these Scriptures treat ; and that such
persons never existed is demonstrable : 1st, From the utter incongru-
ity of such figments with the immutable laws of sound reason. 8nd»
From the total, absence of all historical reference to their existenee;
and Srdly, From innumerable passages of these Scriptures them-
selves, which fully admit the merely visionary Hypostases of their
febulous hero. [iVb/e— Visionary Hypostases. See Luke ix. 29. ;
Mark ix. 2.; Luke xxiv. 31.; 1 John v. 6, and innumerable other
passages, in perfect accordance with the trae and genuine gospels of
the most primitive Christians, which tau^t that he was ninety-eight
miles tall, and twenty-four miles broad ; that he was not cracified al all $
that he was never bom at all.; that by £uth only are we saved, Ac. ;
all equally indicative that Christiani^ liad no evidence at allt hit
2
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*THE unSW TB8TAMENT 8CSIPTUBE8L 1|
Iras m matter #f mare eoneeit, ftncy, or tupen titkni, from Cnt to
latt]
!¥• nmt the events whieh they rdate aerer happened, is demon-
atrable (fnrllMr IhaK as a oonseqaenoe of iAm preceding proportion,)
iNMn the faet that somot many, or all of tfieee erents, had been pro-
tkmaly related of die gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, and
more especiaDy of the Indian idol Chrishna, whose religion, with
less alterations, than time and translators hare made in the Jewish
Scriptures, may be traced in every dogma, and every ceremony of the
Evangelical Mythology."
These idiamefiil misrq>resentations and unUnshing fidsehoods, o^
tend widi snch dogmatical assurance, were prompdy met and moet
triumphantly refuted by talented ministers of the G^n^ in En^and.
But although in this country, the writings of this basest of all Infidds
have been extensively circulated, and are held in high esteem by a
certain class of his fellows : so fkr as the writer's knowledge ex*
lends, no attention has been paid to his allegations.
T6 die first and second propositions, " That the Scriptures of the
New TMtament were not written by the persons whose names they
hear," and, ** That diey did not appear in the times to which they
refinr,** it is in order here to reply. And we have the m0$t ioHrfad-
iory evidence diat die books of die New Testament toere written at
the time which they intimate, and by die persons to whom they are
attributed. It is true that several of them do not bear any name im
die beginning or body of the composition itsdf ; but for these as well
m die odiers, the evidence of genuineness is very satisfeotory. The
inteHigent reader need scarcely be told that the ddes, at the head of
eadi book, were prefixed, not by the authors, hut by eariy transcri*
bars. That circumstance, however, instead of eonsdtuting a proof
that the books are fi>rgeries, as some Infidels assert, involves a proof
of die general belief and notoriety that diose books were the genuine
prodttctbtts of die writers whose names were ftmiliarly attached to
There are in existence a number of wdl known books, written by
headien Indiors, some belonging neariy to die period of the New
Testament, and others to times long anterior; and no rational man
doubts that diey were the genuine productions of the peiaons to whom
diey are attributed* But the question arises, how do we know diot
the works attributed to Thneydidss, Xenophen, DsHKisdienes, Oioe»
re, Ceasar mi Livy, are dieir gendne wridngs! By die only ev^
iaralmbletosaeheaees,andwidiwMolidieeomnen ssnseef
8
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12 AUTHENTICrrY AND CREDIBILITT OF
mankind is uniTenally sattified; Pubuo NoroRisDr, tmmnitted to
the snccessive generations of men by their predeceaaon, np to the'
epoch in each caae referred to, and this tranamitted knowledge often
attaated by the alluaiona or qnotationa of aubaequent anthora. In tiiia
way the whole of literary history is continued down to our own
daya ; and it ia upon auch eyidence aa thia, that we regard the books
€ompoaing the New Teatament aa genuine and authentic; that ia,
they stand on the ground of pubUe notorUty^ reaching back to the
timea to which they belong.
The present generation of Christiana received theae writings aa m
moat precious deposit from those under whose guardianahip they
were in infancy and youth, and they from theira, and ao on ; eadi
generation receiving them from the one which preceded it, till we as-
cend without interruption, fiom the present time to the age in which
the writera themaelvea lived, at the aame time tracing the distinct
proofii and teatimoniea in each period ; and ill Chriatiana, in all na-
tions and all agea, and of all langnagea, do and have done the aame.
It ia a matter of history well attested by contemporary wiitera, Jew-
iah, Ohristian and Heathen, that theae were the genuine wiitinga of
the peraona to whom they are attributed. In the aharpeat opposition
of heretics in Ae church, and of Jewa and heathetia out of it, un-
til very latdy, it was never denied that theae booka were the genuine
writings, contuning the original documenta of the Ohristian xdi-
gion.
Hundreds of manuacripta now exist, and aome of tfaem bearing date
wi^n a few centuries of the time of Chriat Many inatitntioos have
ariaen, and national uaagea have been e8tri>liahed in consequence of
the facta recorded in them, and on the ground of the belief of ^eir
genuineneaa, and on no other, from the apostolic age to ^e preaent
time. For these reaaona, Christiana believe the booka to be the gen-
nine writinga of the Apoatlea and Evangeliata of the Lord Jesus
Chriat And the historical fact, that the New Testament containa die
.writinga of the persons to whom they are aacribed is aa well eatab-
lished, aa that the Declaration of American Independence is the pro-
duction of Thomaa Jeffsnon, or that the Weatminater Confesaion of
Faith« or the liturgy of the Church of England, or the Magna Char-
ta, or the Inatitulea of Justinian, or die writings of Seneca, are the
genuine writings of those persons to whom they are re^tectivdy at-
tributed; and the aame kind of iaatimony ia appealed to in die one
caae aa in the odier. Indeed the challenge may be feariesaly made,
lo produce any writinga at aU approacfaieg to die same pnyfened aa*
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THB NEW TE8TAMEKT 8GRIPTnBE& 18
ttqnit^ with the New Testament, whose genuinenesii b at all support-
ed ^Y evidence equally abundant and unexceptionable.
SECTION I.
The question may anse, when a book is not genuine* how may its
i^urieusness be discovered 7 To this, Michaelis gives this satisfac*.
tory answer, ** We have reasbn to hesitate about the authenticity of a
work when well founded doubts have been raised from its first appear-
ance in the world whether it proceeded from the author to whom it is
ascribed ; when the immediate friends of the alleged author, who were
best able to decide upon the subject, denied it to be his ; when a
long series of years has elapsed after his death in which the book was
unknown, and during which it must have been undoubtedly quoted
if it had existed ; when the style is different from that of his other
ttorks,'or if none remain, from what might have.been reasonably ex*
pected; when events are recorded or referred to, which happened
later than the time of the supposed author ; when opinions are ad-
vanced which are contrary to those which he is known to maintain in
other works."
None of these marks of spUriousness will apply to the writings of
th^ New Testament For many centuries after their appearance in
the world, no doubts were raised as to whether they were the genu-
ine writings of the persons whose names they bear. The primitive
churches, who were the best able to decide upon the ihibject, affirmed
them to be tlieirs. To sAt this testimony in a proper light, it may be well
here to remark, anciently the publication of books by means of book-
sellers was -unknown, and they could be multiplied only by means of
transcripts; when they were thus transcribed, they were beyond the
.control of the author, and published. Before a book was published
it was read aloud ; this was sometimes done merely in the presence
of a few friepds, and at other times with great preparations before
many persons, who were invited for that purpose. In this way the
author became known as the writer, and through the medium of those
present at the reading, the public became previously informed of all
which they might expect from thq work. If the composition' pleas.ed
the peQM>ns present, the author was requested to permit its transcription,
and thus it left his hands and belonged to the public. It sometimes
happened that a writer sent his production to some illustrious person
as a present ; or he prefixed his name to it, for the sake of giving him
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14 AtJTHENnCITY AND CREDIBILITT, OF
a proof of friendship or "regard, by means of this express and partio-
nlar direction of his work. When it was thos presented or sent to
him, and he accepted it, he was considered as the person boand to
introduce it to the world, or as the patron of tlie book, who had pledged
himself as the patron of the person, to this dnty. It now became his
office to provide for its publication by means of transcripts, to facili-
tate its approach to men of influence, and to be its defensdr.
• Thus, the writings of the New Testament made their a];>pearance
before the primitive churches. The epistles wete read in those con-
gregations to which they were directed. The hystorical works were
made known- by ihe writers in the congregations of the Christians, by
reading aloud ; and Luke dedicated his writings to an illustrious per-
son of the name of Theophilus : thus he became the patron and de-
fensor of his gospel, while the congregations before whom the other
writings of the New Testament were read, sustained to them the same
relations, and in botii oases the object and general interest in them
procured for them transcribers and readers. * In this way did the
primitive churches bear a public testimony to their genuineness and
authenticity : and all antiquity aflbrds not a solitary vestige of any
contradictory testimony. So far from this, th6 leading facts are ad-
mitted by the adversaries themselves.
Trypbo, a violent opposer of the Christian religion, was bom before
the death of the apostie John : he held a public debate witii Justin
Martyr, according to Page and Basnage, in Ar D. 140 ; according to
Massent and Benedictines, about A*. D.' 190. During that debate,
Justin Martyr mentions many of the facts related in the Gospels, and
appeals to the miracles. Trypho and his companions admit the facts,
(which as a Jew he had every opportunity to have denied, if they had
been controvertible,) but ridicule the idba of Jesus being bom of a vir-
gin, as absurd. They say, ** It is foolish to suppose that Christ is God
and became man.'* Justin quoted Daniel, vii. 13. " I saw in the night
visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man come in the ctouds of
heaven;" and from this he argues." But Trypho replies: «• These
prophecies constrain- us to exj^ect tiie Messiah to bB great and illustri-
ous, but he who is called your Christ, was without reputation And
glory, so that he fell under the greatest curse of the law of God : fir
lie was crucified"
Trypho says, that ** In the fables of the Greeks, it is said that Per-
•eus was bora of Danae, whilst a virgin ; he who was by them called Jo-
• See Wttaon's Didionarj; Artide, Book.
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THE New testament SCBIPTORES. 15
piter, having fallen upon her in the fonn of gold: you who affinn the
same thing ought to be ashamed, and should rather nay that this Jesus
was man of man.'^ Justin affirms, that the Jews knew that Jesus
rose from the dead, and he adds : ** The pther nations have not pro-
ceeded so far in wickedness against Christ, as you, who are even to
them the authors of evil suspicions against that holy person, and
against us, his disciples ; for after you had crucified that only blame-
]e»8 and just person, by whose stripes healing has come to all who
approach the Father through him, when you knew that he woe riien
from the dead^ and ascended into heaven^ as the prophets foretold
should happen, you not only did not repent of the evil thing you had
committed, but choosing chief men at Jerusalem, you sent them forth
into all the earth to publish that the sect of Christians were Atheists.'*
Justin having shown from the Old Testament Scriptures, that an-
other besides the Father is called God — Trypho replies : ** You have,
jny friend, strongly, and by many passages, demonstrated this; it
remains that you show that this person, according to the will of the
Father, iubtnitted to become man of a virgin^ to be crucified^ to diCf
to arise afterwards, and to return to, heaven" This, it must be ac-
knowledged, proves that tlie leading facts recorded by the evangelists
were well known, and that although they w6re ridiculed and defamed,
yet they could not be controverted.
Celsus was bom some time during the reign of Adrian, which be-
gan, A. D. inland terminated in A. D. 138. He was an Epicurean
philosopher, and cine of the mosfr violent enemies of Christianity :
also a man of considerable parts and learning. He wrote a book
against the Christians, entitled, "The True Word.*' Against this
adversary of Christianity, Origeh, at the desire of Ambrose, wrote an
answer, which, according to Dupin, is ** the completest and best writ-
ten apology fgr the Christian religion which the ancients have lef^
us.'' In his reply, Origen states all the objections of Celsus in his
own words, and minutely examines them all.
Celsus, in his attack upon Christianity, does not refer to any spuri'^
ous gospels, but confines hunself to the narra^ves contained in the
New Testament. He does not deny the facts contained in ^e Scrip-
tures, but he reasons on the absurdity of worshiping one as God who
was acknowledged to have been a man, and to have sufiered death.
He objected to Christ's invitation to sinners to enter the kingdom of
God, as being inconsistent with his supposed dignity, to save such low
and despicable creatures as Jews and Christians. He maintained that
Christ spake dishonorably and impiously of God ; and that the doc-
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trines and precepts of religion are better taught by the Greek phfloso-
phers than in the Gospels. In' condacting his attack he sometimes
personates a Jew, at other times he speaks in his. own proper person.
Treating of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah, and when person-
ating a Jew, he says, *^ But my prophet said, formally, at Jerusalemy
that the Son of God will come a judge of good men and a punisher
of the wicked."
" Upon this," says Lardner, «< Origen iias divers observations;
showing that these words are improperly put into the mouth of the
Jew. First, he says, that the Christ wis not prophesied of by one,
but by many. Secondly, if by • my prophet' he meant Moses, here •
is another absurdity ; for the name of Jerusalem was not known in
his time. Thirdly, no Jew would say that any prophet foretold the
coming of * the Son of God ;' but the c6ming of *the Christ of God.*
Not that we deny, says Origen, that the coming of the Son of Grod
was foretold; but no Jew would allow of this.
There are innumerable, says the Jew in Celsus, who confute
Jesus, affirming, that of themselves were said those things which
were prophesied of concerning him : that is, concerning the persdn
who was to come.
But those were impostors, as Theudas, and some others, who
affirmed without proof, who neither said nor performed such things
as Jesus had done ; as Origen well shoiitrs.
And, sayn he, how could we, who had told all men there would
come one from God who should punish the wicked, treat him injuri-
ously when he came t ' ^ *
But the Jew in Celsus says: For what reason could we reject
him, whom we had before spoken oft Was it that we might be pun-
ished more severely than other men ?
The Jew adds : The prophets say, that he who is to comes is great,
and a prince and lord of all the earth, ahd of all nations, and of armies.
He also says: What god ever came to men who did not obtain
^Lcceptance, especially if he came to them who expected him ? Or,
why should he not be acknowledged by them who had long before
expected htm ? >
Af^vwards the Jew, representing their sentiments, says : For we
certainly expect a resurrection of the body, and eternal life, of which
he who is to be sent to us is to be a pattern ; and thereby to show,
that it is not impossible for God to raise up a man with a body. But
Origen makes a doubt, whether any Jews would say ihis of their ex*
peeted Messiah.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 17
Afterwards Gelsus, in his oWn person, says : That the contention
between the Christians and the Jews is very silly; and that all our dis-
pute with one another about Christ* is no better than about the shadow
of the ass, according to the proverb ; and he thinks the whole question
is of no importance ; both sides believing that it had been foretold by
the Spirit of God, that a S^vioilr of mankind is to come. But they
do not ^agree whether he who has beed prophesied of, is come, or
hot"
Speaking of Jesus Christ, he says : ** It is but a few yearft tiince he
delivered this doctrine who is now reckoned by the Christians to be
ihe.Son of God." " After this," says Origen, •* he brings in His Jew
arguing against Jesus in this manner. First, that he pretended he was
from a virgin, then he reproacheth him with his birth in a Jewish
village, and of a poor woman of that country, who subsisted by the
labor of her hands. . And he says she was put away by her husband,
who was a carpenter by trade, he having found that she was guilty
of adultery. Then he says, that having been turned out of doors by
her husband, she wandered about in a shameful manner, till she
brought forth Jesus in an obscure place ; and that he being in want,
served in Egypt for a livelihood; and having there learned some
c)iarms, such as the Egyptians are fond of, he returned home ; and then
in valuing himself upon those cha^n8 he set himself up for a god.,
To this, Origen replies, *' How should Jesus learn magic in Egypt,
lyhen he was yet an. infant, and not much more than two years of
age ? And if he had learned that art in his childhood, how came it
to pass that he performed not many wonderful works before he was
thirty years of age ? To which it might be added, that it is beyond
the power of magic to perform such, works as were done by Jesus.^'
Treating of the miraculous conception^ he says, ** Was the mother
of Jesus handsome, that God should be in love with her beauty ? • It
is unworthy of God, to suppose him to be taken with a corruptible
body, or to be in love with a woman, whether 8|ie be of royal descent
or otherwise." He elsewhere says, ** But if God would send forth a
spirit from himself, what need had he to breathe him into the womb
of a woman T For since he knew how to make men, he might have
formed a bpdy for this spirit, and not cast his own spirit into such
filth.",
**From all which," says Lardner, .<*we learn, that there then
did obtain among Christians such an account of the miraculous con-
ception of Jesus, as we now have in the Gospels ; that hct, was bom
of a virgin, by the power of the Highest; that her husband was a
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18 AUTHENTICITr AND CBEDIBILITr OP
carpenter ; that Jtfsus was born in a village or town of Judea, which
was not then of any great extent ; also that he was in Egypt, ai^d re^
tnmed &ence ; and that there, were some extraordinary works related
to be dpne by him afterwards*- upon account of which he was in the
highest veneration with many.*'
Af^er these things,* the Jew in Celsns^ speakhig of the magians in
the €rOspel,^ays, ^ It was ^ven out by Jesus, that Chaldeans were
moved at the time of his birth to conie and worship him as a God,
when he' was but a little child, and that this was told to Herod the
tetrarch, who issued out an order to have all killed who had been
borh there ahvut that time, intending to kill him with the rest,
kst, if he should live to mature age, he* should take the govemi
ment"
Here is an evident reference to the second chapter df St. Matthew's
gospel, and it is not surprising that Celsus, who treated Jesus Christ
as an impostor, should say that this or soine other things in the gospels
were invented by Jesus himself, by whom therefore his disciples
were deceived: but this is mere assertion, without proof.
Ailirwards ^e Jew in Celsus addresses Jesus, and says, ** What
occasion had yon when an infant to be carried into Egypt, lest you
should be killed ? A god has no reason to be afraid of death. And
now an angel comes from heaven to direct you and your relations to
flee into Egypt, lest you should be taken up and put to death ; as if
the great God, who had already sent two angels on your account,
could not have preserved you, his own son, in safety at home." In
another place, he has these words: *« But if he (Herod) was afraid that
when you was come of age you should reign in his stead, why did
you not reign when you was of age ? But so ikr from that, the Son
of God wanders about cringing like a necessitous beggar." Ag^n he
says, ** You say, that when you was washed by John, there lighted
upon you the appearance of a bird. What credible witness has said
that he saw this? or who heard the voi6e from heaven, declaring you
to be the Son of God, excepting yourself, and, if you are to be credit-
ed, one other of those who have been punisbed like yourself."
Origen, who answers every cavil of Celsus, doses his reply to the
fest passage quoted as follows : " I must add, that Celsus is mistaken
when he thinks that Jesus himself told these things — the opening of
the heavens, and. the descent of the Spirit at Jordan ill 'the shape of a
dove ; forasmuch as in no text of Scripture is it related that h^ said
Mb, Nor did this great author consider how little this suited him,
who, of the vision on the Mount, said to the disciples. Tell this vision
d
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THE NEW TE8TAMBNT eCRIFTUREa 19
to no man> until the Son of Man be nsen from the dead; Matt«xyii.9»
It is not likely, that he who said this should tell the disciples what
had been seen and heard by John ; and any one ihay perceit* from
his whole life how he declined speaking of himself* If I bear wit-
ness of myself, says he, my witness is not truQ; John v. dl. He
chose to show himself to be the Christ by his works, rather than by
words ; so far was he.from boasting."
Celsus further says, ** That Jesus, taking to himself ten or eleven
abject vile publjcans and sailors, went about with them, getting his
subsistence in a base and shameful manner/'
After this, says Origen, '* Celsus well knowing what great works
' may be alleged to have been done by Jesus, pretends to grant that the
things relate^ of him are true ; such as healing diseases, raising the
dead, feeding multitudes- with a few loaves, of which likewise large
fragments were left, and whatever other things the disciples, who, as
he thipks, delighted in strauge things, have written ; and then adds :
Well, then, let us grant all these things were done by you. Afrer
which he instancetb the tricks of the Egyptians and other impostors,
and then asketh this question: Because they did such things, must
we therefore, esteem them to be God's sojis, or mus^ ^e not rather
say, that these are artifices of wicked and miserable men ?"
Again Celsus says : *i By what reasons are ye induced to believe
him to be the Son of God ;'* *' and," says Origen, ** he makes us an-
swer, ** Because we know his death was undergone for the destruc-
tion of the parent of evil.". , And soon after he makes us answer him,
«< That we therefore have thought him to be the Son of God, because
he healed the lame and thjs blind, and as you say raised the dead."
To this, Origen m^kes this glorious answer : ** Undoubtedly, we do
think him to be the Christ, and the Son of God, because he healed
the lame and the blind ;" and we are the more confirmed in this per-
suasion by what is written in the prophecies : ** Then shall the eyes
of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the
lame man shall leap as an hart ;" Is. xxx. 5, 6. But that he also
raised the dead, and that this is not a fiction of those who wrote the
Gospels, is hence evident. Th^t if it had been a fiction there would *
have been many recorded to have been raised up^'and such as had
been for a long ,time in their graves \ but it not being a fiction few*
have been recorded, for instance, the daughter of a ruler 6f a sjma-
gogue; (of whom I do ;iot know why he said. She is not dead, but
sleepeth : ei^ressing something peculiar to her, not common to all •
dead persons,) and the only son of a widow, on. whom he had com-
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so AUTHENTICITY AND CRBDIBILITY OF
passion, and raised him to life,* after he had bid the bearers of the
corpse to stop ; and the third, Lazarus, who had been buried four
days.*
Elsewhere, Gelsus' ^uts in the mouth of his imaginary Jew, the
following language.: ** How ishould we take him for a god who, as
we have understood, performed none of (hose things which were pro-
mised ? (That is," say& Origen, '* as I apprehend, did not accomplish
the wordly deliverance which the Jews expected.) But when we
had judged him guilty, 'and would bririgihim to ptnishment, ^ougfa
he shamefully hid himself, aad fled away, yet was taken, being be*
trayed by thoee he called his disciples.
But it became not a god to flee, nor to be taken and executed;
least of all did it become him to be deserted and betrayed by his
companions, who knew all his secr«ts, who followed him as their
Master, who esteemed him a Saviour, and the Son and Metoenger
of the most High, God." Origen proceeds, «« He then finds fault
with the disciples, as if it were their fiction, that he foresaw and
foretold the things which befell him. They were very weak in
thinking to vindicate Jesus by Writing these thidgs of him, as if
one should affirm a man to be righteous, and ^how him to be wicked;
say he is a good man, and show that he has committed murder ; say
that he is immortal, and show him dead ; (this last is the point which
he is arguing, the other instances are only for illustra^on,) prefacing
however, continually, that he foreknew all these things. For neither
do you say that he seemed to wicked men to suffer these things*
ulien he did not sutfer; but you. openly and expressly say, that he
did suffer.'-' Again, he' says, " If he thought fit to undergo such
things, and if in obedience to the Father he suffered death, it is ap-
parent that they could not be painful and grievous to him, he being a
god and consenting to them. Why then does he lament, and be-
wail, and pray, that the fear of destruction may be rembved, saying
to this purpose, O Father, if it be possible let this cup pass away? "
Again, he says, " Why did he not now at last, (when condemn-
ed) if not before, deliver himself irom this ignominy, and do justice
upon them who reviled both him and his Father," referring to the
reproaches cast \ipon Jesus when hanging on the cross. He also
• reproaches Jesus with *' the gall and vinegar, as 'if he was mighty
eager to drink, and was not able patiently to endure thirst, which
common people endure contentedly." He also pretends, that the dis-
ciples of Jesus did not believe on him because they forsook him in
the time of his last sufferings: he says, «* They who conversed with
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THB NBW TESTAMENT 80RIPTUHE)9. %l
him when alive, and heard his voice, and followed him as their maf-
ter; when they sa^ him under punishnlent, and djring, were so far
from dying with him, or for him, or heing induced to despise suffer-
ings, that they denied they were his disciples ; bnt, now-a-days yoa
die with him." «
Again he says : *' But let ts consider whether any one that has
really died, ever rose again in the same body ; unless you think that
the stones of others (referring to certain Greek fables) are indeed, ai
well as seem to be, fables ; whilst yoiir fable is probable, and credible,
because of his voice on the cross, wKen he expired, and the earth-
quake and darkness ; and because, that when he was Ihring he could
not defend himself, but after he was dead, he arose and showed the
marks of his punishment, and how his hands had been pierced. But
who saw all this ? Why, a distracted woman, as you say, and one
. or two more of the same imposture, and some dreamen, yrho fancied
they saw things as they desired to* have them; the same that has hap-
pened to innumerable people." He also says: ^•If he would make
manifest his divine power, he should have shown himself to them
that derided him, and, indeed to all ; for surely, he had no reason to
finir any mortal now, after he h^ died, and aft you say, was a god.''
These vre only a, few of the many passages of Celsu^ which have
been preserved, bnt in them we have, iq a manner, &e whole history
<tf our Lord's birth, life, preaching, miracles, death, and Iresurrectiont
and all as tak^n by him from the writings of the New Testament.
As Paine entitles his bbok, the Age of Reason, so Cel^us, who be-
longs to the same class with him and Olitosted, entitles his '<The
True Word," and the ancient and the modem calumniators of the
word of God alike attempt to confute the Christians out of their own
writings. But the two latter in adopting their method of extinguish-
ing* Christianity, lost sight of the fact, that the sarte ta^k, had been
executed with equal or greater ability little Over a hundred years after
the first promulgation of Christianity; and consequehtly, if the argu-
ments were valid it nrast have be^n extinguished shortly after its
birth. But the New Testament, like the burning bush which was
first lighted up in the desert by the presence of the Jjord, before his
servant Moses, so far from being yet consumed, shines with a bril-
liancy more resplendent than ever. And the objections of Celsus are
above all value in establishing the genuineness of the Gospels, which,
by the testimony of one of the most malicious enemies Christianity
ever had, is firmly established. Forr although he denies the truth of
many of the statements, there are many facts that he explicitly admits.
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22 AUTHENncmr AJCD CREDIBILmr OP
and for the purpose of confuting believers, but which the prophets had
foretold ; and thereby, unwittingly, he confirms the credibility of the
Gospel history, for he dwells on the humiliation and sufieri^igs of
Christ, and the prophets do the same.* So that in the only method to
which he could betake himself to prove that Jesus was not the Son -of
6o(}> he has done ^ diat a heathen codd do, to supply the data for an
opposite demonstration. Therefore, however pernicious his writings
may have been during &e age in whieh he wrote, this, the first book
that was written against his faith, is of such Talue to the Christian of
the present day, thai be cannot but vii»w it as a fulfilment to him of the
ardent desiire of the patient Job, ** O that mine adversary had •written
a book, surely I would tak^ it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a
a crown to me."
Porphyry, a learned heathen philosopher, was bom at Tyre, ui
Phenicia, abojdt the year 283. He was the author of numerous-
works, and wrote a large treatise in fifteen books, against the Chris-
tian religion, only some fragments of which remain. It was for a
long time in hiyh repute among the heathens. Besides works that
remain, in which his arguments are quoted in order to their re^-
tation, several books were written in answer to it, which are naw lost.
He was die ablest, and tfne of the* most inveterate enemies of
Christianity, and the term impious or blasphemous was generally pre^
fixed by Christians to his name. Not only were heathens* confirov-
ed in their hostility to the Gospel, but the faith of many Christians
was shaken by his writings. It appears that he was subtle in argo*
ment, and skilled in historical learning, ^so that, it was not easy at the
period when he flourished io detect his sophistry, or to expose the
fallacy of his arguments, which have been revived and successfully
grappled with by Christians of modem times. He did not deny
the genuinepess of tlie New Testament writings^ but he endeavored
to overthrow their authority by attempting to point out contradictions
and absurdities. ' He does ixot deny the miracles, but he attributes
them to cunning demons. As he was. enabled by his birth to study
the Syriac as well as tlie Greek authors, lie was, of all the adversa-
ries of the Christian religion, the best qualified for enquiring into the
authenticity of the Sacred Writings. He possessed, therefore, every
advantage which natural abilities or political situation could afford, to
discover whether the New Testament was imposed upon the world,
after the decease of its pretended authors ; but, such a suspicion as
this appears never to have occurred to him, as not the smallest trace
of it is to be found in his writings.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTtJRES. 28
Bat as his critical penetration enabled him to discover the perfect
coincidence between the predictions contained in the book of Daniel,
and the events, he did not scruple to pronounce that book a forgery;
and he set himself with all his art to show^that it was not written by
its professed author, but, at a period aAer the time of *AniiochuB
Epiphanes« In support pf his hypothesis he uses an argument which
is an equaV proof of his learning, subtlety and want of candor, by
which lie sought to identify the history of l^usanna, which never
had a place in the Jewish canon, with the book of Daniel, that, so
^ey might, fall* together, as (klsely bearing the name of that prophet.
In the history of Daniel and Susanna, he discovered a Greek para-*
nomasia, or play on words, from Ivhich he concluded the book to
have bcQn originally written in Greek and afterwards* translated into
Hebrew. But his clear detection of the spuriousness of the apocry-
phal book from a few Greek words or derivations giyes ample proof
of his quick-ftighted discernment, and show^ that so sagacious an en-
quirer was well able to detect any deception wherever it i^uld be
found ; therefore had a forgery existed with respect to the New Tes-
tament he would have beep certain to have discovered and exposed it,
for thereby he would have gained a coipplete triumph; and have giv-
en a mortal blow to that religion he aimed to destroy. The book of
Daniel having defied him to find in it a flaw, such as h0 had discover-
ed in the apocryphal work, in another manner he strove to bring
dowfi its date, and attempted from the great precision with which the
histories of the kings ef Syriz tuid ]5gypt were detailed, to prove
that down to the days of Anti(>chus Epiphanes, the professed proph-
ecy was a real history; and, .in the language of Dr. Keith,- **Thu8
according to the fate of the enemies of the truth, were his oyrn feet
taken in the snare which he laid, and the learning of Porphyry was
applied to the illustration of 4he troth of the prophecy. His object
was to deprive Jesus Christ of the testimony of the prophet. But
the fulfillment of the p^bp(hecy has proved to'be as strictly true since
the days of Porph]rry,'as before the days of Antiochus Epiphanes;
therefore, however, available his argument might have been at the pe-
riod when he wrpte, it is ^ now altogether irrelative." The very mode
of his attabk upon the writings of' the New Testament proves that
Porphjrry felt that, the weapon he had so successfully used against
the history of Susanna, was wholly powerless against the Gospd
of Christ; and that he could not impugn the genuineness of the
books of the New Testament Therefore he sought from the various
readings of a vprse or of a word, to detect error and inconsistency.
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He accused the eyangeliflts of exaggeration. He accoaed the apoedes
of impoaiog upon the ignorance of their hearera ; and he endeavored
to show that Paul and Peter acted upon different principles. But»
according to our u^al course, we will ghre U^e reader the opportunity
of judging, for himself, hy presenting him widi the language of Por*
phyry himself, as preserved by Christian authors/
" The Christian religion he calls <« the barbarian temerity " of those
who embraced it; be says, they acted ** contrary to the laws;" whilo
he represehtB thos^ who forsook it as having «rretumed to the way
of life prescribed by the laws.'* Tlus certainly was strknge language
•for a philosopher; and implies that men should not fpUow the dictates
of reason if human authority forbids them. .
It is said in Matt ziii^ 85. '« That it might be fulfilled which was
spoken' by the prophets, saying; I will open my mouth in parables.''
Of this he says, ** Your evangelist Matthew, wsys so ignorant as to
■ay ; which was written by the prophet Isaiah«" The passage refers
to Ps. Ixzviii. which is entitled a psalm of Asaph. In some, copies,
where we have by thepropheis^ the reading then was by the proplh
ei Isaiah, In Matt ix. 9* it is said , ** And as Jesus passed out
thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of cus-
tom. And he said unto him. Follow me. And he arose and follow^
ed him." Of this, Jerem says. Porphyry and the emperor Julian
pretend that either the historian has told a lie ; or else people were
▼ery silly to follow Jesus at his qall, acting «s if they wer^ r^y to
follow any man that beckoned to them. **^ot considering," says
Jerem, ** that before this time many great miracles had been done by
Jesus ; of which the apostles were witnesses before they believed."
Upon Gen. i. 10. Jerom says; *< It is to be noted, that all collections
of waters, whether they %re salt or sweet, are called seas> according
to t}>e Hebrew language. .Porphyry, therefore, without ground insin-
uates that the evangelists, the better to impose a mir^le upon ig-
norant people, say, *« Our Lord walked upon the sea;", meaning only
the lake of Gennesaret; for all lakes, or collections of waters, are
called seas." . . v
In Matt iii. 8. it is said, <* This is/he that was spoken ef by the
prophet Esaias, saying; The voi<^ of one crying in the wilderness |
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" Accord^
ing to Jerom, ** Porphyry compares this place with the beginning
«f St Mark's gospel, in which it is written ; '* The beginning of the
Gospd of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in the
prophets ; Beholdi I send my messenger before thy. face, which shaU
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prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one cr3ring in the wil-
demesa ; Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his patha straight.'*
Since this quotation is composed out of Malachi iii. 1. and Isaiah
3d. 8. he asks, «* How came it to pass that it is all said to be taken
from Isaiah?" Again, he says, «« If the Son of God be the Word*
he must be either outward word, or inward word," (that is reason,
Ihooght or speech.) ** But he is neither this nor that ; therefore he
is not Word." When Jesus Christ is repitssented as saying to his
brethren, that he would not go up to the feast of tabernacles, and,
yet afterwards it is written, " But when his brethren were gone up,
then went he up abo to the feast, not openly, but as it were in se-
cret" Porphyry represents him as saying he would not go, but yet
be went, and he charges him with fickleness and inconsistency.
Dr. Lardner treating on this subject says ; <* We now read, John
▼ii. v^rse 8. <* I go not yet up to the feast" But from this place of
Jerom, as well as from the quotations of other ancient autfiors,^ it ap-
pears that the common reading then was, " I go not up to the feast"
Supposing that to be the true reading, I see not any reason for the
charge of inconsistency, or of our Lord's altering his intention. The
eontext shows that he had spoken of deferring his journey to Jerusa-
lem for a short time ; not that he had resolved not to go at all to the
feast. He went to the feast, and he always intended so to do; but he
went not up to thsit feast so soon nor so publicly as he did at some
other seasons ; and he assigns the reason of that conduct, which may
be seen, verses 6 and 7."
Jerom, speaking of the charity of the first believers at Jerusalem
and of the behavior of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, Acts v. I—
14. has this observation ; ** Lastly, the apostle Peter by no means im-
precates death to them, as the foolish Porphyry calumniates ; but, by
the prophetic spirit, declares the judgment of God, that the punish-
ment of two pereons might be an instruction to man3^"
In Gal. ii. 11 — 14. St. Paul says, ''But when Peter was come to
Antiocli, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed*
For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles,
etc. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the
truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter hefyte them all," etc. Jerom,
treating of this matter says ; ** The wicked Porphyry not understand-
ing this, in the first book of his work against us, objects that Peter
was reproved by Paul ; that he did , not proceed uprighdy in preach-
faig the Gospel ; aiming thereby to affix the blot of a mistake upon
the one, and of peevishness upon the other; and hence he argues the
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fiJiehood of the whole doctrine, as if it were a mere inventioii, sinee
the heads of the churched disagreed/'
, Jerom elsewhere says, that «' he and others restrained the impni*
dence of the blaspheming Porph3n7, who says, that Peter and Paul
had a childish quarrel with one another, and that Paul burned with
envy at the virtues of Peter, and had written in a boasting manner
of things which, either he never did, or, if he did, it was mere peev-
ishness to blame that in another which he had been guilty of himself."
On this Dr. Lardner remarks : ** Here we might wish to see Por-
ph3rry himself in his own words. But there seems to have been a re*
ference to several things said by Paul in other epistles besides this to
the Galatians in the last words of the passage. I think it plain that
ihete is a reference to what is said, 1 Cor. ix. 20 ; and perhaps to some
other like texts; and possibly, he had also a regard to several things
done by St. Paul and related by St. Luke in the Acts ; such af his
circumcising Timothy, his vow at Gencrea, and to what he did at
Jerusalem by the advice of St. James. Jerom had before spoken of
this matter in another place of the same epistle of Augustine, telling
him * that others before him had explained the conduct of the two apos-
tles in the same manner he had done, in answer to the blasphemous
Porph3n7, who charged Paul with peevishness, in that he presumed
to reprove the chief of the apostles, and dispute with him to the face,,
and tell him that he was to be blamed, that is, was in error, when he
who reproved the other was guilty himself.'
By idl which we may perceive the force of Porphyry's argument
upon this point. He supposed Peter to have taught, for a while at
least, a different doctrine from Paul; and thence argued, that the reli-
gion taught by them could not be a revelation from heaven. Or, if
Peter did not for a while teach a doctrine different from what himself
had taught at Other times, and different from that generally taught by
Paul, he was guilty of some improper compliance, for which he was
blamed by Paul. But that Paul, if indeed he did reprpve Peter, at
Antioch, as he boastingly says to the Galatians, cfiap. ii.>he showed
therein pride, and envy, and peevishness ; and was a very unfit re-
4>rover of another, when he had himself been guilty of the same
Ciults, and had often complied in a like manner.
«* This seems to be the substance of Porphyry's observations upon
this, and some other texts of Scripture ; and undoubtedly he hence
argued, that both Peter and Paul were deceivers and impostors, and
that the doctrine taught by them could not be a revelation from het-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 27
As the circumstances above referred to have been eagerly seized
upon by modem Infidels, who, like Porphyry, have founded upon
them objections against the truth of Revelation, though thereby we
may be drawn aside from the straight course, and the progress of the
argument be seemingly suspended, yet we cannot pass in silence an
objection which has been supposed to afifect the credit of two apostles
and of Revelation itself. Therefore, we present the reader with the fol-
lowing very satisfactory solution of tbis seeming difficulty, given by Dr.
Lardner ; who says, ** St. Peter never taught a doctrine different from
himself, nor from St. Paul ; but he was not uniform in his conduct
Once, at least, he complied too far witti those believers of the Jews,
who were for imposing circumcision, and the other rites of the law,
upon the Gentiles, as necessary to salvation. St. Paul says, Gal. ii. 1 1.
'* When Peter was at Antioch, he did eat wiih the Gentiles : but wheh
some came from Jerusalem he withdrew, and separated hiiAself, fear*
ing them which were of the circumcision." Herein, out of fear of
offending others, Peter acted contrary to his own judgment; therefore
Paul calls it dissimulation, and shows the bad consequences of such
conduct; and that it implied the necessity of the Gentiles being cir-
cumcised, in order to obtain salvation, and to the having communion
with the Jewish believers. *< But when I saw that they walked not
uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before
them all ; If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles,
and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as
do the Jews ?*' Literally to judaize, that is, to become Jews, and
observe all the rites of the law of Moses, as necessary to salvation.
That never was Peter's doctrine, but it was the tendency of his late
conduct at Antioch, for which Paul now reproved him ; and undoubt-
edly Peter submitted and acquiesced, and never more prevaricated in
his conduct in the like manner."
St. Paul's doctrine was always the same ; and his conduct was ever
uniform and consistent He always said, that circumcision was not
necessary, or available, in any, to justification and salvation. He
never said that it was sinful or unlawful in any. To the Galatians
he writes : '* Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become
of no effect unto you ; whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye
are fallen from grace." It is plain that he is here speaking of such as
e3q>ect to be justified by the law; who embraced circumcision as
necessary to acceptance with God, and eternal salvation. ' Such men
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departed from the grace of the Gospel, and coald have no benefit:
yet they came under an oHigation to observe all the ritoals of the
Mosaic law ; tod if they did not obey the law in all things they ex-
posed themselves to a curse, as he shows, chapter iii. 10."
In the fifth chapter, at ver. 6. he says : ** For in Christ Jesus, nei-
ther circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith
^hich Worketh by love." And afterwards in the same epistle vi. 15,
16. ** For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And- as many as walk ac-
cording to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Is-
rael of Qod." And 1 Cor. vii. 18, 10. '< Is any man called being
circtimcised T Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in
uncircumdsion T Let him not bec6me circumcised. Circumcision
is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but keeping the oommand-
ments of God."
** That was St. Paul's doctrine, and his conduct was agreeable to
it The same was the doctrine of Peter, and of all the apostles,
though Peter once deviated from it in his conduct, as we have seen.
What was Peter's doctrine, we learn (not now to argue firpm his epis-
tles, as we might) firom his speech at Jerusalem, Acts zv. ; wherein
be plainly declares, as Paul does, that the works of the law are of no
avail either to Jews or Gentiles, in point of justification with God ;
for with these .words he concludes that speech ; ver. 11.: But we be-
lieve that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we Jews shall
be ^aved, even a^ they, the Gentiles. And see before, ver. 8, 0, 1 0.,
and chap. z. 84, 86. ; and xi. 1 — 18. And compare these with the
words of St Paul, Gal. ii. 15, 16."
** Though St Paul may be thought to have yielded to some Jewish
prejudices, in the several actions above mentioned, it had no such
bad tendency, as the behavior of St Peter at Antioch had ; as has
been well shown by Augustine, in explaining I Cor. xi. 20. He
says, that Paul practised some rites of the law, for showing that it
was nor sinful, even under the Gospel, for Jews to obaerve the ordi-
nances, which they had received from their ancestors, by means of
the law. At the same time he taught them, that they 8h9uld not
place their hopes of salvation in obedience to such ordinances ; nor
impose that yoke upon the Gentiles, as necessary to their salvation."
** Augustine has particularly considered all these actions of Paul,
which have been looked upon by some as*unwarrantable compliances,
to which, also, Porph3n7 may be supposed to have referred ; his cii^
cumcising Timothy ; his vow at Cencrea; his conduct at Jerusalem:
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 29
and he w^ shows how they difTered from Peter's hehavior at Anti-
och. What Peter did, implied the necessity of circumcision in order
to salvation, which Paul constantly and earnestly opposed. By all
his several compliances just mentioned, he only showed that he did
not think the Jewish sites evil and sinful."
'^ I shall now observe only upon the last of thesa compliances,
particularly related ; Acts xxi. 17 — 28 : <And when we were come t^
Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following,
Paul went in with us unto James ; and the lelders were present. And
when he had sainted them, he declared particularly what things God
had wrought among the^entiles by his ministry ;' and what follows.
For it had been said at Jerusalem, that Paul, in all countries where
he had been, * had taught that the Jews ought not to eircumcise their
children,' that is, that it was sinful and unlawful for them so to do.
This, Paul, had never done; and James and the elders with him,
were persuaded it was a false report ; but for giving satisfaction to all,
they advised him to join himself with some others, then at Jerusa*
lem, who had a vow on them. * Them take' eay they, < and purify
thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave
their heads, and all may know, that those things whereof they were
informed concerning thee, are nothing,' "
*' With that advice Paul complied; nor could it be of any bad
consequence after what had passed, as related by St. Luke; * that
James and the elders rejoiced, and praised (3od for the apostle's suc-
cess among the Gentiles, and declared that no legal services were ex-
pected of the Gentiles that believed.' After that, what Paul did, only
showed that it was not sinful for Jews to practice the rites and cere-
monies of the law. Nothing then done by him, was any prejudice
to the doctrine, always and everywhere taught by him, that the obser-
vation of those rites was not necessary to salvation, nor at all availa-
ble to any, whether Jews or Gentiles, to justification in the sight of
God. As Augustine says : The apostles in their council at Jerusa-
lem had agreed, that no man ought to compel the Gentiles to judaize.
They did not decree, diat any man should forbid the Jews to judaize ;
though the Christian doctrine did not require that even of them."
"Augustine says again, very well : • There was no better way for
Paul to confute the false report that had been raised, than for him to •
perform those things which he was thought to condemn as sinful ;
and thns to show, that neither the Jews were to be forbidden them,
as evil, nor the Gentiles to be compelled to do them, as neces-
sary.'"
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30 AUTHENTICrrY AND CREDIBIIiTTY OF
*< Thus I have represented this case as it has long appestred to me,
and all along I have been supported by observatiens of Augvatine^ the
fruit of that good sense which is a distinguishing part of his character."
But to return to 'Porphyry. <« Eusebins, in his Evangelical Prepa*
ration, has these words : ' And that evil demons have had no power
pf doing any thing, since our Saviour^s dwelling among men, the ad-
vocate of demons in our time, somewhere testifies in his work against
us in this manner : * And now people wonder, that since this distem-
per has oppressed the city so many years, Esculapius and the other
gods no longer converse with men. For since Jesus has been honor-
ed none have received any public benefit from the gods.' So says
Porphyry in these very words."
Again Porphyry says: '* If Christ be the way of salvation, die truth
and the life,* and they only who believe in him can be saved, what
became of the men which lived before his coming T" He also says :
''Christ threatens everlasting punishment to those who do not believe in
him." And yet in another place, he says : " With what measure you
mete, it shall be meted to you again : which is absurd and contradict-
ory ; ibr all measure must be limited to time." He also says: <* Hotr -
came it to pass that the gracious and merciful God, should suffer all
nations, from Adam to Moses, and from Moses to the coming of
Christ, to perish through ignorance of his laws and commands ? for-
asmuch as neither Britain, fruitful of tyrants, nor the Scottish nation,
nor the barbarous people all around, were acquainted with Moses
and the prophets. What necessity, therefore, was there that he
should come in the end of the world, and not till after an innumerable
multitude of men had perishied ?"
Notwithstanding all his hostility to Christianity, yet he gives an
honorable testimony to the character of Jesus Christ: he says, «« What
we are going to say may appear to some a paradox, for the gods de-
clared Christ to be a person most pious and become immortal. More-
over, they speak of him honorably." And he further adds: *< Being
asked concerning Christ, whether he is Grod, he (Apollo) answered:
< That he who is renowned for wisdoih knows that the immortal soul
continues after the body, but the pious soul of that man is most er-
celling.'"
He, therefore, affirmed him to be a most pious person, and that his
soul, which the foolish Christians worship like that of other good
men, was afW death immortal ; but being asked why he was pun-
• John xiT. 6,
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURE8. 81
iahed, he answered that the body is indeed erer liable to litde tor-
ments ; but the soul of the pious rests in the plain of heaven. And
immediatelj after this oracle he adds: **He was therefore a pious
person* and went to heaven, as pious persons do, for which cause
you ought not to speak evil of him, but to pity the men" (who wor-
ship him.)
From the passages adduced above, it is evident that Porph3rry ani-
madverted upon many passages of the New Testament ScHptures.
A sufficient number of instances have been adduced to show the spirit
and the talent of &e man,, together with his enmity against Christian-
ity; and also to establbh, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the
New Testament Scriptures not only existed during the third century,
but that at that eariy period their genuineness could not be called in
question ; for if so much as the slightest suspicion was then entertain-
ed that die writings were forged, we may rest assured that he would
have sifled the affair to the bottom : and who better prepared to de-
tect a forgery of the writings, than the sagacious Porphyry ?
Hierodes the philosopher, who was prefect of Alexandria, in A. D*
903 — ^with the exception of a person whose name is unknown — was
the next successor to Porphyry in the same office. He composed two
books to confute the ^Christian religion, which are now lost. To
these books Eusebius published an answer, which still remains. Dr.
Laardner, than whom none was ever more laborious in adducing testi*
mony, or scrupulous in scanning it, says of Hierocles, •• That he was
a man of learning and a person of authority and influence as a magis*
trate. He was well acquainted with our Scriptures, and made many
objections against them, thereby bearing testimony to their antiquity,
and to the great respect that was shown them by the Christians ; for he
has referred to both parts of the New Testament, die gospels and the
epistles. He mentions Peter and Paul by name ; he attempts to in-
validate the truth of Christiamty, not.by denying the factB recorded in
the New Testament, but in order to overthrow the arguments which
Christians formed from die miracles of Jesus Christ in proof of his
divine mission; he attempts to show that one ApoUonius had per-
formed equal or greater miracles, which he says were recorded not by
ignorant men like Peter and Paul, but by Maximus, and Damis the
philosopher. < We reckon him,' says he, * who did such wonderful
things, not a god, but only a man, whereas they (the Christians) give
the appellation of God to Jesus because he performed a few miracles.' '*
ApoUonius was a famous magician of Tyana, who flourished to-
wards the end of the first century, and was pronounced to be not so
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83 AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY OP
properly a philosopher as an intermediate being between the gods and
men. The object of the heathens was to confront his miracles with
those of the Saviour, and to prove that Apollonius was equal or su-
perior to him. He was represented as understanding all languages,
although lie had not learned them ; as knowing the language bf beasts
and the speech of the gods. The wonderful works that were ascribed
to him, to us appear perfectly ridiculous ; thus, it is said, that at Ephe-
sus he discovered the pestilence in the form of an old tattered beggar,
and commanded the people to stone him. Being present at a mar-
riage he detected the bride to be one of the malevolent spirits who were
called Larvae or Lamia. Such were the great miracles which Hiero-
cles boasts that he performed. It is true that such a man existed, and
imposed upon the ignorant by juggling tricks ; but, to say nothing of
dieir nature, the credit of his miracles & destroyed by the fact that
the record of them is not drawn up by any person who witnessed
tl^em, or who lived at the time when the account might have been
subjected to a strict examination ; but by Philostratus, who lived in the
third century, nearly two huadred years after the death of Apollonius,
when the author was at liberty to say what he pleased.
To add to the conclusive testimony already adduced seems only to
be burdening our pages with proof upon proof; ,but that the full de-
mands of all reasonable men may be met, we will not close this part
of the argument without introdu'cing just such a witness as the Infidel
himself would desire to hear, an apostate from the Christian faith ; and
certainly, if there is the smallest inlet to conviction in the minds of such,
men, the testimony of one who filled an office in the church, and who,
if Christians possessed a secret testimony against the genuineness
and authenticity of their Scriptures, which neither imprisonment, the
rack nor the flames could extort from them, must have possessed that
secret, and would not have been slow to expose it That witness is
no other than Julian; a name well kpown. He succeeded to the
throne of the Cesars, A. D. 861. He. had once professed to be a
Christian, but afterwards apostatised from the faith. -In his youth he
was trained np for an office in the church ; he was admitted to the
inferior offices of the ecclesiastical order, and publicly read the Scrip-
tares in the church of Nicomedia.* But though reading the Scrip-
tuves to others, he would not himself be taught to follow the meek
and lowly Jesus. He was a man of great abilities, and wrote much.
Having been initiated into the church, and trained for the ministerial
* GibboD'a Histoiy, vol iv. p. 65.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTIJBE8. M
offieot ht$ mnBt have possessed every means of investigating the gen-
uineness of the Scriptuces. He also held in his hands the archivee
of the empire to which the apologists of Chnstianity had repeatedly
appealed. Therefore, if the man ever existed who could successfully
controvert the claims of Chnstianity and. vindicate the honor of the
gods, he was the man.
In the language of Dr. Keith ; '* Having phanged from Christiani-
ty to Paganism, and from being a public reader of the Scriptures, to
be still more publicly a reasoner against them, the testimony of Juli-
an may be associated m some degree with that of Judas, and the apos-
tate may stand up beside the traitor to tell if there were any secrets
among Christians concealed from the world; and to show whether
either of them can disclose aught against the Master whom they be-
trayed, or the faith which they abjured. Of all cases that could pos-
sibly be put, these, perhaps, should in evidence be the strongest,
since the proof came from their own lips of the genuineness of the
Grospel as well as of the innocence of Jesus. It was not for the one
or the other of this hapless pair to conceal any thing which they
could have disclosed against Jesus and his cause, or to have admitted
any thing in behalf of the Gospel which it was possible for them to
have denied." »
Julian wrote a treatise in three books against the Christians, and to
confute the Christian religion. , *' The eloquence of the style," says
Gibbon, ** and the rank of the author, recommended his writings to
public attention ; and in the impious list of the enemies of Christian-
ity, the celebrated name of Porph3nry was effaced by the superior
merit and reputation of Julian." t Although his work itself has been
lost, yet the greater portion of it, and in his own words, with the ex-
ception of the occasional exclusion of blasphemous terms, has been
preserved in Cyrirs large work in ten books, which wss written as
an answer to it, and addressed to the emperor Theodosins, He has he-
ralded his intention by declaring ** that he thought it right to show all
men the reasons by which he had been convinced that the religion
of the Galilean is a human contrivance, badly put together, having
nothing in it divine." He not only does not attempt to invalidate the
genuineness of the writings, but acknowledges the leading facts of the
gospel history, as will be Seen fh)m the following quotations. He
says, *' Jesus having persuaded a few among you, sdd these of the
worst of men, has now been celebrated about three hundred years,
• Keith's Demonftration, p. 253. j- Gibbon, toL 4. p. 0%.
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t4 AUTHENnCfTY AND CREDIBILITY OP
hmng done nothing in his life-time worfty of remembrance ; unleM
any one thinks it a mighty matter <o heal lame and blind people, and
exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany." Again,
he says, '* Jesus whom you celebrate was one of Cesar's subjects*
If you dispute it, I will prove it by and by ; but it may be as well
done now. For yourselves allow that he was enrolled with his fath-
er and mother in the time of Cyremaa; but after he was bom What
good did he do to his relations ? for they would not, as it is said, be-
lieve on him. But yet -that stiff-necked and hard hearted people be-
lieved Moses. But Jesus, who rebuked the unnds, and walked on
the sea, and cast out demons, and as you will have it, made the hea*
Ten and the earth : (though none of his disciples presumed to say thie
of him, except John only, nor he clearly and distinctly ; however, let /
it be allowed that he said so,) could not order his designs so as to /
save his friends and relatives." He also says, «* But you are so nn- /
happy as not to adhere to the things delivered to you by the aposlhs^
but they have been altered by you for the worse, and carried on to
yet greater impiety, for neither Paw/, nor Matthew, nor Luke, nor \
Mark, has dared to call Jesus, God. But honest John, understand-
ing that a great multitude of men in the cities of Greece and Italy
were seized with this disiemper ; and, hearing likewise, as I suppose,
that the tombs of Peter -and Paul were respected and frequented,
though as yet privately only, then- first presumed to advance that doc-
trine."
He further says^ " But you miserable people, at the same time that
ye refuse to worship the shield, that fell down from Jupiter, and is
preserved by U9, which was sent down to us by the great Jupiter, or
our father Mare, as a certain pledge of the perpetual government of
our city; you worship the wood of the cross, and make signs of it
upon your forefheads, and fix it upon your doore. Shall we for this
most hate the understanding, or most pity the simple and ignorant
among you, who ate so very unhappy as to leave the immortal gods,
and go over to a dead Jew? " It is worthy of remark that the purest
days of primitive Christianity having past befqre the time of Julian,
and evil practices having been introduced and practised by nonnnal
believere, this impious and superstitious Infidel, while vilif3ring the
gospel, is here constrained to vindicate it from the imputation of a
•anction to such unchristian practices.
Julian blaming Christans for destroying temples, ^. says : « These
are your own inventions ; for Jesus has no where directed you to do
such things ; nor yet Paul. . The reason is, they did not expect
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 85*
that ever you would attain to this degree of power ; for they were
content if they deceived servant maid 8 ^ and slaves, and, by their
means, some wives and husbands, such as Cornelius and Sergius,
If there were then any other nieil of eminenee brought over to you,
I mean in the times of Tiberius and Claudius^ when these things
happened^ let me pass for a liar in every thing I say."
Speaking scoffingly of Christians, Julian says : «> Not only they of
t]us4ime, but some of those, who at the beginning received the word
from Paul, were such as is apparent from what Paul himself says,
writing to them ; for I presume he was not so void of shame as to
send them suck reproaches, if he had not known them to be just
These are the things which he writes of the disciples, and to them-
selves. * Be not deceived ; neither idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effem-
inate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covet-
ous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the king-
dom o( Grod. And you are not ignorant, brethren, that such were some
of you also. But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified in the name of
Jesus Christ.** You see they were such, but they had been sanctified
snd washed, having been cleansed and scoured with water, which pen;
etrates even to the soul. And baptism, which cannot heal tlie leprosy,
nor the gout, nor the dysentery, nor any other distemper of the body,
takes away adulteries, extortions, and all other sins of the soul.*'
In his satire upon Constantine he brings in his son Constantins, in
the presence of his father, proclaiming to all in this manner : « Who-
ever is a ravnher, a murderer, guilty 0/ sacrilege, or any other abom-
ination, let him come boldly. For When I have washed him with this
water, I will immediately make him clean and innocent ; and if he
commits the same crime again, I will make him, after he has dumped
his heart and beat his head, as clean as before." The just castigation
of Julian by Dr. Bentley, in reference to this, and similar misrepresen-
tations, is here worthy of a place. **A ridiculous and stale banter, used
by Celsus and others before Julian, .upon the Christian doctrines of
baptism, and repentance, and the remission of sins. Baptism is rallied
as mere washing, and repentance as thumping the breast and other
outward grimace; the inward grace and intrinsic change of mind
are left out of the character. And whom are we to believe— these
pagans or our own selves ? Are we to filch our notions of sacraments
from scraps of Julian and Celsus, or from the Scripture, the pure
fountain, and from what we read, know and profess ? And yet the
• 1 Cpr. ri. »— 11.
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30 AUTHBNncrry and CREDIBILnT OF
banter came more decently ont of Celsas, an Epicnrean*a month, than
ont of JuliaB*8, the most bigoted creature in the world. He to langfa
at expiation by baptism, whose whole life, after his apostasy, was t
continual course of washings, purgations, expiations, and the most
absurd ceremonies ! addicted to the whole train of snperstitioas omens,
presages, prodigies, speeches, dreams, visions, auguries, oracles, mar*
gic, theurgic, p«ychomantic ! whose whole court, in a manner, con-
sisted of haruspics and sacrificuli, and philosophers as silly as they 1
was always poring in the entrails of cattle to find futurities there I
who, if hq had returned victor out of Persia; (as his very pagaa
'friends jested on him,) would have extinguished the whole species <rf
bulls and cows by the number of his sacrifices ! I have drawn this
character of him from his own writings, and the heathens his contem>
poraries, that I might not bring suspect^ testimonies from Christiaii
authors."*
The letters and orations of Julian, many of which are still extant,
contain repeated allusions to the Scriptures, and exhibit his hatred of
the Christians. He Hot only restrained them from teaching any of
the branches of polite literature, but he prohibited their children from
attending the schools where it was taught In a letter tio HecalotuSt
•npposed to have been the chief magistrate of Edessa, aAer the pio-
fession of much clemency toward the Christians, he ordained that, ia
order to facilitate and aid their design of entering into the kingdom of
heaven, ** since they were so commanded by their moat taandeifid
fati',*'t that all the money of the church of Edessa should be taken
away, and given to the soldiers, and that their estates should be added
to the imperial domains.
On the murder of George, bishop of Alexandria, the emperor was
not slack in writing to the governor of Egypt, to seixe on his large
. and excellent library, and to destroy utterly all the Christian writ"
ings; and the treasurer of Eg3rpt was addressed on the same sub-
ject, after the same manner. He wrote a letter to the Alexandrians,
denouncing the sentence of banishment on Athanasins, the former
bishop; and* on their petition, that the order should be recalled, in a
second letter, he appealed from their faith to their pride, and declared
by the gods, that he was ashamed any Alexandrian should acknow-
ledge himself to be a Galilean. And, after referring, from one pas-
sage of Scripture to anotKler, he accused them of not nforshiping the
gods whom Alexander, their founder, and the Ptolemies, and otlier
* Laidner, voL til p 636. f Matt v. 8.; zix. SI, ; Luke yL 80.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa. 87
great princes of Egypt, had honored ; but Jesus, whom their father! *
never saw, and whom they accounted God the Word. He also held
forth before them, his own apostate example, and he concluded by
lamenting^ that there were among them ** a multitude of such people,
(Christians,) besides Athana^ius and his followers," and him he ban-
ished, not only out of Alexandria, but out of all Egjrpt
AAerwards he sent still more threatening letters^ and swearing by
the great Serapis, that though backward to condemn, he was af)er-
l^rards more backward to forgive; he expressed his great, concern that
all the gods were despised, and declared that he sought no service of
the prefect of Egypt, like that of expelling the wioked Athanasius,
the enemy of the gbds, who thinned still more the ranks of pagan- '
iim, by converting Greeks to the Christian faith.
While JuHan gives this exhibition of his malice, and breathes forth
persecution and vengeance upon the Christians, he is constrained to
bear an honorable testimony to their purity, benevolence, and consis-
tency. In a letter to Arsacius, the pagan high-priest of Galatia, he
attributes the decline of paganism to the faults of its professors, and
he attempts to provoke its very priests in good works, to follow the
example of the Christians ; and strange as the discrepance is between
thp cause and the effect, he chiefly attributes *^the augmentation of
impiety" 'to that humanity to strangers, »nd sanctity of life of which
Christians made stich a show,. He cays, <* Why do we not look to
that which has been the principal cause of the augmentation of im-
l^ety, care im burying the dead, and that sanctity of life, of which they
make such a show ? all which things, I will have to be really, prac-
tised by our people. It is not sufficient that yon are unblamable
yourself, all the priests in Galatia, ought to be so likewise. I will
therefore, th^t you persuade, and even compel all the priests in Gal-
atia to live soberiy, otherwise do you depose them from the priesdy
office, unless they, and their wives, and childreid, and serv^ts do re-
ligiously worship the gods ; and also forbear to converge with the ser^
vants, children, and wives of the Galileans^ who are impious toward
the gods, and pceier impiety to religion. You are likewise to order
them not to frequent the theatre, nor to drink in taverns, nor to exer-
cise any tnean or sordid employments. Such as, hearken to your di-
rections, you are to encourage ; others you are to reject. You are also
to erect hospitals in every city, that strangers, may also share in our
humanity ; and not only those of your own religion, but others like-
wise, if they are necessitous*" His object in all this is evident from
what foUows : ** For it is a shame, when there are no Wggars among
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18 AUTHBNTIOITY AND CBEDIBILITT OF
the Jews, and tht impioui *GalUeani relieve not only their oum peo-
pie, but ours aUo, that our poor should be neglected by us, and be
left helpless and destitute." He .also, in an oration* accused the jm*
pious Galileans of providing for the poor, whom their own priests
had neglected, a species of humanity u> which they were addicted;
-thereby recommending th^ worst of things, by an exhibition of their
liberality. " For beginning with their love feasts and the ministry of
tables, as they call it, (for not only the, name, but the thii^ also is
common ampng them) they have drawn away the faithful to impiety.**
He also wrote a satire on the people of Antioch, in which he states
that the noble, the. wealthy, and the poor — the most, if not the whole
* of the city, were offended at him, because they loved impiety. For
so impious were they, that when he went on a solemn day, to
pay his homage in' the temple of Apollo, there were none present to
do honor to the god, nor did the great dty provide any beasts for the
sacrifice ; but neglecting their duty to the gods, they maintained the
poor tmth their goot^^, and thus brought their impiety into esteem.**
The last quotation we will give from Julian contains an important
but strange ooncession, considering t|ie source frojn whence it emana-
ted: *' After all," says he, *nhese (Galileans) have-in some degree a
proper sense of religion, fpr they worship no ^bject and vulgar deity,
but that God who is truly all powerful and all good, by whose direc-
tion the sensible world is conducted ; ^e same, I am persuaded, that
we also Worship, under different names. The^ therefore stem to me
to act very consistently, as they are not transgressors of the laws, but
only err in paying their worship to thia one God, in neglect of aU the
rest, and' in thinking that we <Ady, whom they style the Gentiles, are
precluded from his influence."
Th^ quotations which' have been given from the writings of the
emperor Julian,«and for which we ai^ chiefly indebted to the. labori-
ous Lardner, clearly show, that however tumble the reasoning of the
imperial apostate, yet he has ih spite of himself, given a noble testi-
mony to the antiquity and genuineness of the New Testament Scrip-
tures; and by aYeWsenteflces^, the design of which was to show that
there is nothing divine in the- Christian religion, he has done more
than could be accomplished by much research into the writings of the
fethers, explicitly and directly to establish the Origin of Christianity.
Infidels have appropriated the arguments of this man, and it is but
reasonable that Christians should avail themselves of the facts. And
by this virulent enemy of our faith, and to the discomfiture of the
modem Infidel, we are assured, that Jesus Chost was bom at the
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THE WEW TESTAMENT SCRTPTUREa 81
time of the taxing, or, as properly rendered by Julian, enrolling in
the time of Cyrenius, in the reign of Augustus; that this doctrine was
promulgated by himself aAd his apostles, in the reigns of Tiberiot
Ceasar and Claudius, the. latter of whom died about twenty yean
gHer the death of Christ
He also informs us that within th^t period, not only some maid
tenrants, and slaves, and some men and wbmeUf but Cornelius and
Sergius, men of eminence, were converted from among the Gentiles.
In twp lines he has told us, that Matthew, Mark, Luke, apd John,
were all writers of the New Testament Scriptures ; that John wrote
his gospel after the others, and after the death of Peter and PanU
(or according to the date generally assigned by Christians, viz. about
A. D. 88.) He also informs us, that previous to that time, a great mul-
titude of men in the cities of Greece and Italy had embraced Chris-
tiadity. He further informs us, that Jesus had healed the lame, and
the blind, and had cast out devils, and rebuked the wind, and walked
on the sea ; and although he did not seem*to view these as mighty works,
yet he shows that they who disparaged them could not deny theob,
and that for. them, Jesus had been celebrated down to his own time.
Thus, the most illustrious enemies of Christianity of ancient times,
silence the suspicion of our anonymous Italian— exhibit in a clear
light the iblly and falsehood of the manifesto writer, when he says,
" It cannot be shown, by any evidence that they (the New Testament
Scriptures) were written by the persons whose names they bear."
•* And because it can be shown by evidence, both external and inter-
nal, tliat they were written by other persons ;*' and also when he says,
** they were not imtten in the times to which they refer."
. Although it may seem somewhat oOt of place, we must be permit*
ted here to introduce another witness, also an apostate . from the
Christian faiths who, although a modem; bears too important a testi-
mony for it to be omitted ; and that is the manifesto writer himself,
(Mr. Taylor,) who. in his Diegesis^ a wqrk published sometime after
hia manifesto appeared, inconsistent as it may seem, says : ** There can
be no doubt, (whether Christianity be received or rejected,) that Paill
was a most distinguished and conspicuous metaphysician, who lived
ahd iifrott about the time usually assigned^ and that those episdes
which go under his name in the New Testament, ai;^ in good faith,
(and even with less alteration than many other writings of equal anti-
quity have undergone,) such as he either penned or dictated.'**
— r 1 1 ■ 1*
• Taylor'i Diegeds, p. Wl.
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40 AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBaiTY OF
Thus it appears from the testunopy q( adversaries of Ghristianitj,
that ^wo of Michaelis' marks, that a book ih not genuine, are not
applicable to the writings of the New Testament, for ** no well founded
doubts have been raised from" their ** first appearance in the woild, .
whether" they «* proceeded from the authors to whom" they <« are
ascribed." And " no longt series of years " did '< elapse after" the
death of the «« authors " in which the books are unknown ;" but they
were repeatedly quoted by virulent enemies, who had ample means of
deciding upon the question of their genuineness, and whose. cause
would have been most effec^ally subserved by /the exposure of a for^
gery.
Another mark of Michaelis that a book is not genuine, is, when
the immediate friends of the alleged author, who were best able to
decide upon the subject, denied it to be his.' This mark is no^ ap-
plicable to the writings of the N^w Testament; for the immediate
friends and disciplep of the writers of the New Testament not only
acknowledged diese writings to be theirs, but quoted extensively from
them, regulated their lives according to- the pr^ceptis contained in
-ibem, and many of them subn^itted to persecution, imprisonment,
and death, in attestation of their faith in the diving mission of the
writers.
There is now in existence, and before me while I write, a volume
entitled, '«The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolic FWiers, St Cle-
' ment, St. Polycarp, St. Ignatius, St.' Barnabas, the Shepherd of Her^
mas, and the Martydoms of St^ Ignatius and St Polycarp." This,
book, as its tide indicates, purports to contain their genuine writmgs,
and all of them were among the number of the primitive disciples of
Jfesuii Christi Barnabas is mentioned in the New Testament as the
companion* of Paul. Clefnent was the bishop of the congregation in
Rome, whom all antiquity agrees to be the person mentioned by Paul
in his epistle to the Philippians. Hennas, who is mentioned by Paul
in his epistle to the Romans; Ignatius,, wha was .appointed the bishop
of AntioCh, thirtyrseven years after the death of Christ; and' Poly-
carp, the bishop of Smyrna, who was the friend of the apostle John.
All antiquity ascribes these writings to ^e men; whose names they
bear, and it is clear from thfeir contents that their authors were pious
and good men ;^and in them 8om6 of the writers of the New Testa-
ment are mentioned by name, and others in the Scriptures are so ex-
pressly alluded to by these fipLthers, as to prove most clearly that such
writings must have existed when they Wrote. They were distinguish-
ed from the writings of those who lived in the second and third cen-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 41
tones by a style of evangelical simplicity, in the spirit of peace,
charity, and resignation, worthy of the age in which their autl^ors are
- represented to have lived; and free from that. display of learning
which occurs* in the writmgs of those fathers, who fpllowed in the
immediately succeeding centuries.
The episde of Barnabas bears internal evidence that it was written
shordy after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army, "and
before the reduc^on of the remaining cities of Judea, of Which Jose*
phus has given an accpunt, after the taking arid burning of the tem-
ple. Speaking of the temple at Jerusalem, he says, " Through their
waging war, it was destroyed by. their enemies." He also says,
«« Consider yet this also ; that ye have seen so great signs and pro-
digies m the people of the Jews, and thus God forsakes themJ*
Therefore, should it even be disputed that Barnabas is the author ; the
book was evidently written by a zealous Christian, and at the time
specified,' i. e. when God was forsaking the Jews as a nation. Any
one who will attentively read this epistle, will readily perceive tliat
its author must have been on terms of indmacy with Paul ; for as Dr.
Lardner observes, it has in at »• many. Fauline phrases." " To give
die charaqter of the author," says hb, ** in one word^^ he resembles
St. Paul, his fellow-laborer, without copying him." Na books of
-the New Testament are expressly named in this episUe ; yet it con-
. tains expressions which , are identically the saque that occur in the
gospel of Matthew, and to several passages in the other books he ev-
idenUy alludes. The following table drawn up by.Dr. Lardner, must
convince every honest enquirer that the New Testament writings
were extant when Barnabas wrote ; or, at least, that he was conver-
sant with some of the writers of that book.
New Testament. Barnabas.
Matt. ^vi. 24. If any man will Ch. yii. So they, saith he, whQ
come after me, let him deny him- will see me, and obtain my king-
self, and take up his cro^s and fol- dom, must receive me with many
\o^ me. afflictions and sufferings.
Matt XX. 16. So the last shall Ch. iv. Let us therefore be-
be first, and the first last: for ma- wai^e, lest it should happen to us,
ny be called, but few chosen. as it is written, There are n^ny
Ch. xxii. 14. For many. are called, few chosen,
called, but few are chosen.
Matt V. 42. . Give to him that Ch. xix. Give to every one
asketh thee. that asketh thee.
Luke vi. 80. Give to every
man that asketh thee. *
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43
AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY 01^
Nkw Tbstambnt.
Matt ix. 13. For I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners
10 repentance.
Matt xxii. 43, 44. He saith un-
to them, how then dodi David in
spirit cail him Lord, 8a3ring^ The
Lord said to my Lord, sit thou
on my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. See
Psalm ex. 1.
Matt. A xxiv. 22. And except
those days be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved : but for
the elect's sake those days shall
be shortened.
Matt XXV. 6. While the bride-
grpom tarried, they all slumbered
and slept 6. And at midnight
there was. a cry made ; The bride-
groom cometh. 10. And while
they went to buy, the bridegroom
oame, and they that were ready
went in with him toihe marriage,
and the door was shut
Matt xxvi. 31. F6r it is writ-
ten, ( see Z^ch. xiii. 7., ) I will
smite/ the shepheVd, and the tfheep
of the flock be scattered abroad.
Acts X. 42. That it is (le which
was ordained. of Qod to be^ the
jtfdge of quick and dead.
2 TijQ. iv. 1. Icharge thee he-
fore God, and the I^rd JesuB
Christ who shall judge the quick
and the dead.
Peter ivw 6. Who shall give ac-
count to him that is ready to
judge the quick and the dead.
Rom. ix. 10, 11, 12. And not
only this, but when Rebekah had
conceived by one, even by our
father Isaac, ( for the children not
being yet bom — ) it was said un-
to her, The elder shall serve the
younger.
Barnabas.
Oh. V. That he might show
that he came not to .call the right-
eous, but sinners, to repentance.
Ch. xii. But because they^would
4iay, that Christ is the son of Da-
vid, therefore fearing and know-
ing the error of sinful men, he
says, Sit thou on my r^ht hand
until I make thine enemies thy
footstool. ' Behold how David
calls him Lord.'
Ch. iv. For this cause the I^rd
has shortened the times and days*
that his beloved might hasten his
coiping to his inheritance.
Ch. iv. Take heed lest at any
time fitting still, now 4hat we are
called, we fall asleep in our sins,
and the wicked one getting power
over us stir us up and shut us out
of the Kingdom of the Lord.
Ch. v. When I shall smite iiie
shepherd, then the sheep of the
flock shall be Mattered abroad.
' Ch. ^ii. If, therefore, the Son
of God, who is Lord of all,' and
shall judge the quick and the dead,
hath suffered.—
Ch. xHi. Barnabas argues that
the followers of Jesus are the
people of God. <* But let us en-
quire," says he, " whether this
people be the heir or the former ;
and whether the covenant belong
to us or to them. Hear then con-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
48
Nkw Tb9TAKENT.
Rom. iv. 9. For what saith the
Seripture ? Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. V. 16. Therefore
it is of faith— to the end, that the
promise might be sure to all the
seed, not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is
of the faith of Abraham, who is
the father of us all, (as it is written,
I have made thee a father of many
nations,) etc^
Rom. zi. 36. For of him, and
through him, and to him, are all
things.
1. Cor. ill. 16. Know ye not,
that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwel-
leth in you 1
1 Cor. xi. 20. When ye come
together unto one place, this is
not to eat the Lord's supper.
2 Cor. V. 17. If any man be in
Christy he is a new creature : old
. Barnabas.
ceming the people, what the Scrip-
ture says ; Isa^c prayed for hb
wif^ Rebekah, because she was
barren, and she conceived. After-
wards Rebekah went forth to en-
quire of the Lord. And the jAxed
said unto her. There are twt) na-
tions in thy womb, and two peo-'
pie shall come from thy body.
And the one people shall prevail
above the other people, and the
elder son shall serve the younger.
(Gen. acxv. 23.)
You ought to consider who is
Isaac, and who Rebekah ; and of
whom it was declared that this
people should be gfeater than that*
You see of whom he appointed it,
to be this first people, and him of
the covenant. Afterwards, in the
same chapter, what saith he to
Abraham, when upon believing he
was. placed in right^usness ? Be-
hold, I have made thee a father of
many nations, which, without cir-
cumcision, believe in the Lord*
Gen. xtii. 4; 5.
Ch. xii. Barnabas having spo-
ken of the directions given by
Moses to the Israelites in the wil-
derness, to look to the brazen ser-
pent, says : *• You have in this
also the glory of Jesus; foras-
much as in him are all things,
and to him."
C/h. VI. For, my brethren, the
habitation of our heart, is an holy
temple io ^e Lord.
Ch. iv. But coming together
into one place, enquire what is
fitting and profitable for the belov-
ed in common.
/Ch. xvi. Having received the
remission of our sins, and trust-
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AUTHENTICITY AND CBEDIBILITT OP
New Testament.
things are passed away; behold
all things are become new.
1 Peter ii. 5. Ye also, as Kve-
ly stones, are bailt up a spiritual
house.
, Epb. v. 16, 17. Redeeming the
time, becaus^ the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding, what the mind of
ih6 Lord is. And Eph. ii. 2.,Th^
prince oT the power of the air,
the spuit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience.
Phi. iv. 0. The Lord is at hand.
2 Peter iii. 10. The earth also,
and the works that are therein,
shall be burnt up. ,
Rev. xxii. 12. Behold I come
quickly, and my reward is with
me.
2 Tim. i. 10. But is now made
manifest by the appearing of our
Saviour Jesus * Christ, who has
abolishied death, and brought life
and immortality to light, through
the Gospel.
Rom. zv. 8. Jesus Christ was
a minister *of the circumcision,
for the truth of God, to confirm
the promises made unto the fa-
thers.
Heb. i\i. 6. And Moses verily
was faithful in all his house, as a
servant —6. But Christ as a son,
over his own house," whose house
are we.
Barnabas.
ing in the name of the Lord, we
are made new, again created a-
fresh ; therefpre God truly dwells
in our house, that is in us. — ^This
is the spiritual temple built unto
the Lord. , >
Ch. ii. Seeing then the days
are exceeding evil, and the adver-
sary has the power of this pre-
sent world, we ought to give dili-
gent l}eed, to enquire into' the
righteous judgments of the Lor<jL
Ch. xxL The day is near, in
which all things shall be destroy-
ed, together with the wicked one.
The Lord isnear, and his reward.
Ch. V. But he, that he ihight
abolish death, and make mahifest
a resurrection from the dead, be-
cause it behoved him to appear in
the flesh> suffered, that he might
perform the' promise made unto
the fathers.
Ch. xiv. Barnabas having ob-
served, that Moses received from
God,' |he two tables of the com-*
mandments, written by the finger
of God but the people being fall-
en to Idolatry, he cast them to the
ground, and the tables of the co-
venant were broken, goes ^ on:
Moses, being a servant, received
them (dr it, meaning the Cove-
nant or Testament^ But the
Lord himself has given them to
us, the people of his inheritance,
he having suffered for us.
2
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 45
New Testambnt. Barnabas.
Heb. X. 25. Not forsaking the Ch. iv. Do not withdraw yoar-
aasembling of ourselves together, selves from others, like justified
as the manner of some is. men.
1 Pet. i, 17. And if ye call Oh. iv. .As much as in us lies,
on the Father, who, without ice- let us meditate on the fear of God,
spect of persons, judges accord- and strive to keep his command-
ing to Qvery m^'s work, pass the ments, that we may rejoice in his
time of your sojourning .here in judgments. For the Lord judg-
fear. es ,Uie world without respect of
persons, and every one shall re-
ceive according to what he does.
** Thus," says Lardner, <' I have put down the most material pas*
sages of Barnabas, whieh may be supposed to contain allusions to the
books of the New Testament, that every bne may be able to judge
for himself. But, excepting some of the first, I do not allege them
as express quotations, or allusions. In inostof these places, Barna-
bas does not appear an imitator, or copier of others ; but an^ original
author, who had ia his mind the same doctrine with Paul and the oth-
er apostles." ♦
The epistle of Clement was written ih the name of the whole
churph of Rome, of which he was the bishop ; it was addressed to
the church at Corinth, and was designed to compose certain dissen-
sions which prevailed there. The style is clear and simple, and it
contains several passages, which exhibit the words of Christ as they
stand in the Gospels, l^ut does not give them as quotations, becanse
the usage did nbt, at that period, generally prevail. «The archbishop
of C^mterbury places its date between A. D. 64. and 70. But the
eommon opinion is that it was written about A. D. 96. ,
Lardner has given a long list of quotations from this epistle, simi-
lar to the preceding, a few of which we here present^ and from
which the reader will perceive that in Clement'is days the Jbooks of
the New Testament must have been in existence. <* In this epistle
there is but one book of the Nqw Testament expressly named,
which is the first epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians."
New Testament. . Clement.
1 Cor. i. 12. Now this I say, Ch. xlvii. Take into your hands
that every one of you saith I am the epistle of the blessed Paul the
of Paul,' and I of Apollos, and I apostle. What did he at the first
of Cephas, aad I of Christ. ' write to you in the beginning of
Ae Gospel? Verily he did by
the Spirit admonish you concem-
* Laidner, voL ii j^. 31«^88.
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AllTHKNTICTrr AND CSBDIBIUTY OF
New TssTAMtiNT. Clemknt.
ing himself, and Gephu, and A-
poUos, becaase that eiren then yoa
did form parties.
^ St Clement here quotes this epistle to the CorinthiajM them-
selves; to whom, he says,, it was wHtten by the apostle Paul. I
need not observe how strong an argument this is for the genuineness
of the first epistle to the Corinthians, which we now have. And he
says, Pbul wrote, and admonished them, by the Spirit ; or, as in Ate
original, spiritually."
New Testament.
ier. ix. 23, 24. Thus saith the
Lord, Let nfot the wise man glo-*
ry ip his wisdom, &c. Cdmp. i
Cor. i. 31.
Luke vi. 36. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is
merciful* V. 37. Judge not and *
y^e shall not be judged ; (^ondemn
not and ye shall not be condemn-
ed ; forgive, and ye shall be for-
given. 38. Give, and it shall be
given unto you; good measure,
pressed down, and shaken togeth-
er, and running over, shall men
give into your bosom. For with
the same measure that ye tnete
withal, Jt shall be measured to
you again.
Matt. vii. 1. Judge not, that ye
be not judged. 2. For with what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged ; and with what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again. Ver. 12. Therefore
all things whatsoever 'ye would
that men should do unto you, do
ye even so to them.
Matt. xxvi. 24. But wo to that
man, by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed; it had been good for
thsft man, if he had not been
bom. '
Matt, xviii. 6. But whoso shall
<^end 'one of these litde ones
which believe in me ; it were bet-
ter for him that a millstone were
Clement.
Ch. xiii. And let us do as it is
written^ For thus saith the Ho*
ly Spirk, Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom.— Especially
remembering the words of the
Lord Jtous, which he spake,
teaching gentleness and long suf-
fering. For thus he said, "Be
ye merci^, that ye may obtaui
mercy ; forgive, that it may be for--
given unto *you. As you do, bo
shall it be done (into you ; as yoa
give, so shall it be given unto you ;
as ye judge, so shall ye be judg*
ed ; as ye- show kindness, so shall
kindness be shown 'unto you;
with what measure ye mete, with
the same shall '}}, be measured to
you." By this command, and
by these rules, let ns establish
ourselves, that we may always
watch obediently to his hAy
words.
Ch. x)vi. Remember the words
of the Lord Jesus. For he said.
Wo to th^t m^n (by whom offen-
ces come.) It were better for him
that he had not been born, than
that hd should offend one of my
elect It were better for him, that
a millstone should be tied about
his neck, and that he should be
2
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THB NBW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
4T
New Testambnt,
hanged about his neck, and that
he were caat into the sea.
Mark ix. 42. And whosoever
shall offend one of these Httle ones
&at believe in u^ie, it is better
for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he
^ere cast into the sea. .
Luke zvii. 2. It were better, for
him, that a paillstone were hanged
about his neck, and he cast into
the sea, than tl^at he should of-
fend o^e of these litde ones.
Acts xiii. 22. And when he
had removed him, he raised* up
unto them David to be their king,
to whom also he gave testimony,
and said, I have found David, the
son of Jesse, a man after my own
heart, which shall fulfill dl mv
will.
Comp. Ps. Ijcxxix. 20^ I have
found David, my servant; with
my holy oil have I anointed him.
And 1 Sam. xiii. 14. The Lord
has sought him a man after his
own heart.
, Acts XX. 85. How he said. It
is more blessed to give than to
receive. * ' ^
Rom. i. 29. Being filled with
all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetovsness, mali-
ciousness ; full of envy, murder,
debate, deceit, malignity; yi^his-
perers. 30. Backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, ptoud, boasters;
32. Who knowing the judgment
of God, (that they whibh do such
things are worthy of death,) not
only do the same, but have plea-
«are in them that do them.
Gal. i. 4. Who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver
OS firom this present evil world,
according to the will of God pd
our Father.
Clemeiit.
drowned in the sea, than that he
should offend one of ray little
ones.
[I have put down on the other
aide the words of several evan-
gelists, that every one may be the
better judge; but it is generally
supposed, that the latter part. of
this passage refers to Luke
xvii. 2.]
Ch. xviii. And what shall we
say of David, so highly testified
of? To whom God said, I have
found a man after my own heart,
David, the son of Jesse, with holy
oil have I anointed h\m.
[It is true, these words are also
to be found in the O. T. But
they are introduced by Clement
with the same, or like form of
quotation, with that in the Acta,
and the words agree very much;
which may dispose one to ihink,
he had an eye to that place.]
Ch. ii.' Ye were all of you
humble-minded; itiore willingly
giving than receiving..
Ch. XXXV. Casting off* from us
all unrighteousness, and iniquityy
covetousness, debates, malignities,
deceits, whisperings, backbitings,
hatred of God, pride, boasting,
and vain glory, and ambition.
For they that do these things are
hateful to God ; and not only they
that do them, but they also who
have pleasure in them. ,
Ch. xlix. For the love which
he had for- us, Chtist our Lord
gave his blood for us by the will
of God ; his flesh for our flesh ;
his soul for our soul.
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48
AOT'HENTICITY AND C^EBIBILrrY 0P
Neit Testament.
Eph. iv. 4. There is one body,
and one spirit, even aa ye are
called with one hope of your call-
ing. 5. One Lord ; one faith, one
baptism. 6. One God, and thci
Father oC all.
Philip, i. 10. That ye may be
sincere, and without offence unto
the day of Christ.
Philip, ii. '5. Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christy
Jesus. 6. Who being in the form*
of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. 7. But made
himself pf no reputation. Sec.
Col. i. 10. That ye might walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleas-
ing, being fruitful in every good
work.
1 Thess. V.
give thanks.
18. In every thing
1 Thes.' V. 23. 'And I pray
God, your whole spirit, and soul,
and body, be preserved blameless
uiito the coming of our Lord Je-
sus Christ.
1. Tin^. ii. 8. I vwU therefore,
that men pray every where, lifting
up holy hands without wrath and,
doubting.
1 Tim.iii. 13. For they that
hafve used the office of a deacon
well, purchase to themselves a
good degree, and gr^t boldness
in the faith Which is in Christ
Clbmbmt.
Ch. xlvi. Have we not one
God, and one Christ ? and is there
not onC' Spirit poured out upcm
118, and one calling in Christ ?
Ch. ii. Ye were sincere and
harmless toward each other, net
mindful of injuries.
Ch. xvi. For Christ is theim
who are humble. The sceptre of
the majesty of God, pur Lord
Jesus Christ, came not in the
show of pride . and arrogance,
though he could have done so;
but in humility. . Ye see, belov-
ed, what is the pattern, which hae
been given to us. If the Lord
thus humbled himself, what
should we do, who are brought
by him under the yoke of his
grace ?
Ch. xxi. Unless we ordering
our conversation worthily of him*
do with one consent these things
which are good' and pleasing in
his sight.
Ch. xxzviii. Having therefore
all these things from him, we
ought in all things to give thanke
to him.
Ch. XKxviii. Let therefore our
whqle body be saved in Jesus
Christ
Ch. xxix, Let us therefore
come to him in holiness of soul,
liAing up ta him chaste and unde-
filed hands. '
Ch. 11 V. Let him say, I am
ready to d^part, only let the flock
of Christ be in peace with the
elders that are set over it. He
that shall do this, will procure
to himself great glory in the
Lord, and every place will receive
him.
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THE KBW TESTAMENT SCBIPTURBB.
Nbw Tbatamsnt.
Titos iii. 1. To be ready to
every good work.
Heb. L 8. Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his 'person. 4.
Being Qiade so much better than
the angels, as he has by inherit-
ance obtained a more excellent
name than they. 5. For unto
which of the angels said he at
any time, Thoa i^rt my son, this
day have I begotten thee ? (Comp. .
Ps. ii. 7, 8.) V. 7. And of the an-
gels he saith, Whamake hife angels
spirits, and bis ministers a flame
of fire. (Ps. civ. 4.) V. 13. But
to ^hich of the angels said he at
any time. Sit thou on my right
hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool?
James i. 5. If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and up-*
braideth not, and it shall be given
him. 6. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. 7. For let
not that man think,' that he shall
receive anjrthing of the Lord. 8.
A double-mind^ man is unstable
in all his wayfc.
2. Peter iii. 4. And sayhig.
Where is the promise of his com-
higT For sinde the fathers fell,
asleep, all things continue as they
were from the beginning of the
erention.
James ii. 21. Was toot our fa-
bler Abraham justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his on-
ly son upon the altar?
Ch. ii. Ye were ready unto
every good work.
Ch. xxxvi. Who being the
biightness of his majesty, is by
so much greater than the angels,
as he has by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they.
For so it is written. Who maketh
his angels spirits, and his minis-
ters a flame of fire. But of his
Son, thus said the Lord: Thou
art my Son, this day have I be-
gotten thee. Ask of me and I
will give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy posses-
sion. And afgain he saith unto
him. Sit thou on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy
footstooL
Ch. xxiii. Our aH-merciful end
beneficent Father has bowels to-
'Vards them that fear him ; and in a
most kind and tender manner, be-
stows his favors upon them, that
come to him with a simple mind.
Wherefore let us not be double-
minded; neither let us doubt in
our hearts, about his excellent
and glorious giAs. Let that be
far from us which is written:
** Miserable are the double-mind-
ed, who are doubtful in their,
minds, and say : These things
have we heard, eten firom our fa-
thers ; and behold, we are growm
old, and none of these things have
happened to us. See Numbers
xliv..
Ch. xxxi. For what was om
father Abraham blessed ? Was it
not that through faith he wrought
righteousness and truth? IssoCf
knowing with full assurance what
was to come, willingly became a
•aenfioe.
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50
AUTHENTICrrY AND CRBDIBILmr OF
Nbw Testament.
1 Peter iv. 8. For charity 8^11
cover a multitude of sins. (Co(Dp.
Jamea v. 20.)
1 Peter v. 5. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility; for God
resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. (See &ove,
Num. xl.)
Glbmbht.
Ch. xlix. Charity covert the
multitude of sins.
Ch. xxxWii. And let every one
be subject to his neighbor.
Ch. ii. Te were all of yoo
humble minded — ^rather subject,
than subjecting. The A. B. de*
siring rather to be subject than to
govern.
Ch. XXX. For God, saith he, Te«
sisteth the proud, but giveth graoe
to the humble.
Ch. vii. Noah preached repent-
ance, and they who hearkened (to
himj were* saved.
Cfh. xi. By hospitality and god<
liness was Lot delivered out of
Sodom,when all the country round
about was destroyed by nre and
brimstone; the Lord thereby mak-
ing il manifest, that he does not
forsake those that trust in him:
but those that turn aside (from his
commandments^ he appoints to
puniahmeht and torment. .
Ch. xxiii. Let that be far from
US wbich is written, <* Miserable
are the doujbfe-minded, who are
doubtful in their mind, which s^:
These things have we heard even
from our fathers ; and behold, we
, ai'e grown old, and nona of these
things have happened to us."
See Num. xxxvii.
Xhus, it appears that Clement expressly ascribes the first epistle of
Corinthians to Paul. The words of Jesus Christ, found in the gos-
pels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, are reconmiended with a high de-
gree of respect, although the names of the evangelists are not given.
And evident allusions are made 'to the Acts of the Apostles ; the epie-
tle df Paul to the Romans ; both the episfles to the Corinthians ; the
episdes to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians ; the first
to the Thessalonians ; first and second to Timothy, to Titus, the
epistle to the Hebrews, the epistle of James, and the first and second
2 Peter ii. 5. And saved Noah,
a preacher of righteousness.
V . 6. And turning the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,
condemned tliem with an over-
throw. 7. And delivered just
Lot, vexed with the filthy conver-
sation of the wicked. 9; The
Lord knows how to deliver the-
godly out of temptation, and to
reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punnhed.
Juide V. 7. may be compared.
2 Peter iii. 4. And saying.
Where is the promise of his com-
ing f For since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they
were from the beginning; of the
creation.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT BCJIIPTUHES.
51
of Peter, although these writers are not mentioned hy name, or any
marks of citation given. So that here we have the testimony of
Clement te the genuineness and antiquity of the New Testament
Sdiptures.
Hennas Was also contemporary tvitb Paul, and is mentioned by
him, in his salutation, at the end of his epistle to the Romans.
He wrote his work toward the close of. the first century, and it
was highly esteemed by the early fathers. Eusebius, who flourished
. about three hundered years after the death of Christ, s^ys, " We
know that it is publicly read in the churches, and that some very an*
cient writers* make use of it."
From Lardner's list of quotations the reader is presented with the
following, which clearly prove that Hennas was conversant with the'
New Testament Scriptures.
New Testament.
Matt X. 32. Whosoever there-
' fore shsJl confess me before men,
him will I also confess before my
Father which is in heaven. 33.
But whosoever shall deny me be-
'fore men, him will I also deny '
before my Father which is iti hea-
ven.
Matt xiii« 7. And s6me fell
among thorns; and the thorns
sprung up and choked ihetn,
Ch. xix. 23. Verily I say unto
you, that a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24. It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God.
^ Hermas. .
Vision ii« sect. 2. Happy are
ye, whosoever shall endure the
great trial that is' at hand, and
whosoever shall not depy his life^
For the Lord has sworn by his
S6n, that whosoever shall deny
his Son, and him, being afraid of
his life, they will also, deny him
in the world that is to come. But
those who shall never deny bins,
of his great mercy he will be fa-
vorable to them.
Similitude ix. sect. 28. They
who have deliberated in their
lie^rtt whether , they should con-
fess or deny him, and yet have
suffered, their fruits are smaller.
Wherefore I speak this unto you,
who deliberate, whether ye should
confess or deny him. ,
Similitude ix. sec. 20. They
who are of the third nfiountain,
which had thorns and brambles,
are such as believed, but were
some of them rich, others taken
up with many afiairs. ^or the
brambles are riches; the thorns
are they who are entangled in
much business, and a diversity
of affairs. . These therefore shall
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AUTHENTICmr AND CBEDIBILITY OF
Nkw Tkstakent.
Luke xvi. 18. Whosoever put-
teth away his wife, and marrieth
another, committeth adultery ; and
whosoever marrieth her that is
put away from her husband, com-
mitteth adultery. Comp. Matt.
V. 82.
John xiv. 6. I am die way and
the truth, and the life; no man
coqieth unto the Father, but by
me. And our ,hvd compares
himself to a door, Ch. x. 7. Q.
Acts v. 41. And they departed
from the' council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suf-
fer shame for his i\^une.
Rom. iz. 4. To whom pertains
eth the adoption, — and the giving
the law — and the promises. Ch.
zi. 29. For the giifU and calling
of God are without repentance.
1 Cor. iii. 16. Kjiow ye not
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you. And Rom. viii. 11. Shall
quicken you by his Spirit thai
dwelleth in you. 2 Tim. i. 14.,
«« By the Holy Ghost ,that dwel-
leth in us.
I Cor. iiL 17. If any man de-
file the temple of God, him shall
God destroy.
2 Cor. vii. la But the sorrow
of the world worketh death.
GaL iii. 27. For as many of
you as have been baptized into
Christ, have put on Christ.
Eph. iv. 4. There is one body,
^ Hermas.
with difficulty (or hardly) enter
into the kingdom of Qod.
Command, iv. sect. 1. If Ihe
woman continues On in her sin^
Let her husband put her away,
and let him continue by himself.
But if he shall put away his wife,
and marry another, he also doth
• commit adultery.
Simil. ix. sect. 12. The gate is
the only way of coming to God.
For no man ehall go to, Gkxl, but
by his Son.
Simjl. iv. sect 28. But ye wl)o
suffer death for his name, ought
to honor the Lord; that the Lord
counts you worthy to bear his
name. •
Vis. iii. sect. 2. However lo
'both of them belong gills and*
promises.
Comm. V. sect 1. If thou
shalt be patient, the Holy Spirit,
that dwelleth in thee, shall be
pure.
SimiU V. sec^ 7. For if thou
defile thy body, thou shalt also at
the same time defile the Holy
Spirit And if thou defile thy
body thou shalt not live. .
Vis. iii. sect 2. But the re-
membrance of injuries (or evils)
worketh death ; but the forgettiBg
them life eternal.
Simil. br, sect 13. So else they
who have believed in God through
his Son have pnt on diis Spirit
Simil. ix. sect 13. BehokU
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa
61
Niw Testament.
and one Spiiity even as^ye are
called with one hope of your
calling.
Eph. iv. 30., And grieve not
the Holy Spirit of Godl
31. Let all bittemesd, and
wrath, and anger, be put away
from you, with all malice.
1 Thess. v. Id; And be at
peace among yourselves.
Mark ix. 50. And have peace
with one another.
5om. XV. 7. Wherefore receive
ye one another.
James i. 5. If any tff you lack
wisdom* let him ask of 66d, that
giveth to all men Hberally, and
upbraideth not, and it shall be
ffiven him. , 6. But let him ask
HI faith, nothing wavering.
James ii. 7. Bo they not bias-
«pheme that worthy name by the
which ye are called ?
1 Pet^ iii. 15. But sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts, and
be always ready to give an an-
swer to every man that asketh you
a reason of the hope that is in
you, with meekness and fear. ■
1 John ii. 27. But tEe anoint-
ing which ye have received of
2f2 t
HSSMAS.
there shall be one Spirit, and One
body, and one <solor of their gar-
ments.
Com. iii. And should not have
grieved the Holy and true Spirit
of God; And Comm. x. sec. 1.
jSpeaking of an anger, and doubt-
ing, and sadness, he says of the
last. It torments the Holy Spirit,
and afterwards. It grieves the Ho-
ly Spirit.
And further he exhorts : Grieve
not the Holy Spirit that dweUeth
in thee, lest he as^ of God, and
depart from thee.
Vis. iii. se<5 9. Now therefore
hearken unto me, and have peace
one with another, and receive oi^e
another. Wherefore admonish
one another, and be at
among yourselves.
Sim. V. sec. 3. Whoever is the
servant of God, and hath the Lord
in his heartv he asketh of him un-
derstanding, and obtaineth. But
they that are indolent, and slow
to pray, they doubt to ^sk of the
Lord ; although the Lord be of so
inexhausted goodness, as to give
all things wMiout ceasing to them
that ask him.
Simil. viii. sec. 6. Who among
their other crimes, blaspheming
the Lord, have denied his name,
which had been called'upon them;
Comm. xii. sec. 4. Take care«
therefore, ye that are empty and
light in the faith, to have the IxMrd^
your God in your heart ; and ye
shall perceive, that nothing is
more easy, nor more pleasant, nor
more gende and holy than these
commands.
Comm.^ iii. And the Lord may
be glorified, .who has given such
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AUTHENTIQITT AND CJRBDIBILITT OF
Hbbmas.
a spirit to ihoe. Because God k
troe in all his words, and in hiiii
there is no lie.
Comm. iii. For thoa on^htest,
as the .servant of God, to have
walked in the truth.
Nbw Testament.
him abideth in you, and is truth,
and is no lie.
2 John, ver. 4. I rejoice that I
foond of thy children walking im
truth.
Dr. Lardner, from passages not given above, is of the opinion that
Hermas most probably had not only read the book of Bevelation, but
that he imitated iC And, ia his writings, are many things bearing a
strong resemblance to it. Bui, from the passages adduced, the read>
er will perceive that Hermas must have been acquainted with die
writings of the New Testsrment, so that here we have another wit-
ness in the first century^ to' the genuineness and antiquity of the New
Testament Scriptures. .
Ignatius was bishop of Antioch A. D. 70. His bishoprick and mar-
tyrdom are no where contradicted ;. and it is certain that he was a con-
temporary of the aposdes. Chrysostopi says, *< He conversed famil-
iarly with them, and was perfecdy acquainted with their doctrine, and
had the hands of the apostles laid upon him."
The following, selected from the many quotations and allusions giv-
en by Lardner, shows that he Was fkmiliar with the writuigs of the
New Testament.
New Testament.
Matt. ^i. 15. For thUs it be-'
comes us to fulfill all righteous-
ness.
Matt. X. 16. Be ye therefore
wise as serpents, and harmless as.
doves.
Malt. xii. 33. For the tree is
known by his fruit.
Matt, xviii. 19. If two of you
shall agree on earth, as touching
any thing that they shall ask, it
shall be done for them of my
Father which is in heaven. 20.
For where two or three are gath-
ered together in my name diere
am I in the midst of them.
John. iii. 8., The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof; bu( canst not
loNATtU^.
Smym. sect. i. Baptized of
John, that all righteousness might
be fulfilled by him.
. Polycarp. sect. 2. Be wise as
a serpent, in all things, and harm-
less as a dove.
Ephes. sect 14. ^The tree is*
manifest by its fruit.
Ephes. sect. 5. For if the
prayer of one or two be of such
force ; how inuch more that of die
bishop
Phil
Spirit
God;
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 80MPTUKB8.
60
NbW TKSKAlffiNT*
tall whence it cometh, and whith-
er it goeth ; so is every one that
is bom of ihe Spirit
Jo]in. Yiii. 29. And he that
sent me is with ne ; the Father
has not left me alone ; for I do al-
ways those things that please
him.
John X. 9. I am the door; by
me if any .man ^nter in, he shall
be saved, d^.
John xvi. 28. 1 came forth from
the Father, and am come into the
world ; again, I leave the world,
and go, to the Father.
Acts X. 41. Who did eat and
drink with him after he arose
firom the dead. Gomp. Luke
sxiv. 42, 43.
Rom. XV. 7. Wher^ore receive
ye one another, as Christ also re-
ceived us, ta th^ glory of God.
. 1 Cor. i. 10. Now I beseech
you, brethren^ by the name of our
Ldrd Jesus Christ, that ye all
speak ite same things and that
there be no divisions among you ;,
but that ye be perfectly joined to-
gether in the same mind and in
3ie same judgment.
I Cor. vi. 9, 10. Be not de-:
ceived; neither fornicators, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with man-
kind, diall inherit the kingdom
of God.
Gkd. V. 4. Christ has become
of no effect unto you ; whosoever
of you are justifidl by the law, ye
are fallen from grace.
Eph. ii. 22. In whom ye also
loNATnrs.
QMnes, and whither it goes, and
reproves secret things.
M agues, sect 8. That there is
one God, who has manifested him-
self through Jesus Christ his Son ;
who in all things pleased him &at
sent him.
Philad. sect. 9. He (Christ) is
the door of the Father, by which
enter in Abmham, and Isaac, 'and
Jacob, and the sqpostles, and the
church.
The same; As to one Jesus
Christ who proceedeth from one.
Father, and exists in one, and is
returned to him. •
Smym. secf. 3. But after his
• resurrection he did eat and drink
with them.
Pbilad. sect 11. And I give
thanks to God for you that ye
have received them> as the Lord^
you.
Ephes. sect 2. It is fitting
therefore, that in all manner of
ways ye should glorify Jesus
Christ who has ^orified you,
that in one obedience ye may be
perfecdy joined together, in the
same mind, and in Sie same' judg-
ment and may all speak the, same
thing of the same thing.
Epheft. sect 16. Be not de-
ceived, jny brethren, corrupters
of houses, (or familie8,J shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. See
tslso Philad. sect 3. at the end.
Magnes. sect 8. For if we
still livjB according to Judaism, we
confess we have not received
grace.
Ephs. sect .9. As being stones
2
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GENUINENB88 AND CREDtBILnT OF
New Tsstambnt.
are bnilded for an habitation of
God, throQgh the Spirit* See ver.
20, 21.
Ephes. iy. 8. Endearoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit, hi
the .bond of peace. 4. There is
one body, and on^ Spirit, even as
, ye are called in one hope of your
calling. 5 One Lord, one faith.
Eph. V. 2. And walk in love,
as Christ albo hath Joved us, and
has given himself for us, an ofier-
*ing and a sacrifice to God, for a
sweet smelling ;savor.
Ephes. Yk 13. Wherefore take
unto you the whole armor of ,
God. 14. Stand therefore, hav-
ing your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breast-
plate of righteousness. 16. Above
,all taking the shield of faith. 17.
And take the helmet of solvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.
Philip, ii. 3. Let nothing be
done through strife. 5. Let this
mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus.
Heb. X. 28. He that despisied
Moses* law, died without mercy,
under two or th^ee witnesses. 29.
Of how much sorer punishment
shall he be thought worthy, who
has trodden under foot the Son of
God, and hath counted the hood
of the covenant, wherewith he
was sanctified, an unholy things
Ignathts.
of ^e temple of the Father^ pre-
pared for the building of God the
Father ; drawn up on high hy the
engine of Jesus Christ, which is
the cross, using for a rope the
Holy Ghost.
Magnes. sect 7. Coming to*
gether into one place, let there be
one prayer, one supplication, one
mind, one hope in charity and joy
undefiied. There is one Lord. Je-
sus Christ.
Ephes. sect 1. That I may be-
come the disciple of hhn, who
ofiered himself for us to Grod, an
offering and a sacrifice,
Polycarp, sect* 6. Let none of
you be found a deserter, but let
your baptism remain as (your)
arms, faith as a helmet^ love as w
spear, pati^ce' as whole armor.
Philadelph. sect 8. I beseech
you, that ye do nothing through
strife,' but according to tl:^ instruct
tion of Christ
Ephes. sect 16. If therefore
they who do these things accord-
ing to the flesh have di^, (or suf-
fered death,) how much more shall
he who by wicked doctrine cor-
rupts the faith of God, Which for
Jesus Christ was crucified? Such
a one, being defiled, shall go into
fire unquenchable, as shall he
who hears him.
' Here then, we have a fourth witness in the first century, whose
testimony to the genuineness and -antiquity of the New Testament ie
most clear and explicit
Polycarp was an immediate disciple of the aposde John, and by
2
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THE NEW TESTAICENT SOXaPTUHEa
9t
him was appointed bishop of Smyrna. He oonyersed with many
who had seen Jesus, and is supposed to have been the angel of die
ehurch * of Smyrna, to whom the^ episUe in the Revelations is ad-
dressed. His epistle abounds yfiih quotations from, and ^allusions to,
the New Testament writings,, as the reader will perceive from what
we have selected, from Lardner's works, for his perusal.
Nbw Testament. Polycarp.
1 Cor. vi. 2. Do ye not know Ch. xi. Do we not know that
that the saints shall judge the the saints shall judge the world ?
world ? as Paul teaches.
Eph. iv. 26. Be ye angiy and
sin not ; let not the sun go down
upon your wrath.
Matt. v. 3. Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 7. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy. 10. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for
righteousness^ sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
Matt vii. 1 . Judge not, that ye
be not judged. 2. And with
what measure ye mete* it shall be
measured to yon again.
Luke vi. 20. Blessed be ye
poor, for yours is the kingdom
of God. 86. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Pather ^o is
merciful. 37. Judge not, and ye
shall not be judged. Forgive,
and ye shall be forgiven. 38.
For with the same measure that
ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again.
Matt. V. 44. Love your enemies,
Uess them that' curse you, do good
to them that liate you, and pray
for diem which despitefully use
you, and pesecute you.
Matt. vi. 12. And forgive us
our debts, as we forgive our debt-
. ors. 14. For if ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly
Ch. xii. For I trust that ye are
well exercised in the holy Scrip-
tures. As in these Scriptures it
is said. Be ye angry and sin not ;
and^ Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath.
' Ch«ii. But understanding what
the Lord said teaching, Judg«
not, that yp be not judged ; for-
give, and ye shall be forgiven :'be'
ye . merciAil that ye may obtain
mercy; with yhat measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you
again. And, Blessed are the poor,
and they that are 'persecuted for
righteousness' sake; for theirs is
the kingdom of God.
Ch. xii. And pray for Uio^ that
persecute you, and hate you, and
for the enemies of the cross.
Ch. vi. Not severe in
ment, knowing that we are aO
debtors in point of sin ; if there-
for we pray the Lord, that he
2
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•s
AUTHENTICITT AlfD CREDIBQJTT OF
New Tsstaiibnt.
Father will also forgive you. 15.
But if we forgive not, etc.
Matt. vi. 13. And lead us not
into temptation.
Matt xzvi. 41. The spirit in-
deed is willing, hut the flesh is
weak. See also^Mark xiv. 88.
Acts ii.'24. Whom God hath
raised up, having loosed the pains
of death.
Rom. xiii. 9. And if there he any
other commandment, it is hriefly
comprehended in this saying,
namely: Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself. It). liOve worketh
no 111 to his neighbor, therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law.
Rom. xiv. 10. We shall all
stand before the judgment-seat of
Clyrist. 12. So then every one
of us shall give an account of him-
self to Go(L
1 Oor. vi. 9. Neither fornica-
tors, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves witlv mankind, (10.)
Shall inherit {he kingdom of God.
Gal. i. 1. But by Jesus Christ
and God the Father, who raised
him from the dead.
Eph. ii. 8, 9. For by grace are
ye saved« through faith, and that
not of yourselves ; it is the gift of
God, not of works.
Phil. |i. lO: That at the nsmp
of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth.
.11. And that every tongue should
confess. .
Ver. 16. That I may rejoice in
the day of Christ, that I have not
run in vain.
POLTOIRP.
would forgive us, we ought abo
to forgive.
Ch. vii. With pmpjplication, be-
seeching the all seemg God, not
to lead OS into temptation.
Ch. vii. As the Lord hath said.
The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
Ch. i. Whom God hath raised,
having lopsed the pains of hell.
Ch. iii. Led on by love toward
€rod and Christ, and toward our
neighbor ; for if any man has these
things he ha^i fulfilled the law of
nghtQDusness ; for he that has lore
is far from all sin.
Ch. vi. And mast aU stand be-
fore the judgemnt-seat of Christ,
and every one give an account for
himself.
(jh. \. And neither fornicators,
nor efieminate, nor abusers of
themselves widi mankind, shall
inherit the kingdom of GUhL
Ch. xii. Who shall believe in our
Lord Jesus Christ, and in his Fa-
ther, who raised him from the dead.
,Ch. L Knowing that by grace
ye are saved, not c^ works, but
by the wiU pf God through Jesus
Christ.
Ch. ii. To^whom all things are
made subject, that aire in heaven,
and that are in earth, whom every
living creature serves.
Ch. ix. Being persuaded diat
all these have not run in vain.
Speaking of Paul and the other
appsdes, and some others.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
M
New Testament.
1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. I exhort there-
fore that supplication^ and giving
of thanks, be made for all men ;
for kings, and all that are in au-
thority.
1 Tim. vi. 7. For We brought
nothing with us into this wond,
and it is certain, that we can cany
nothing out»-10. For the love
of money is the root of all evil.
. 2 Tim. ii. 12. It is a faithful
saying, (12) K we suffer We shall
also rei^ with him.
TOLYCARP.
Ch. xii. Pray for all the saints ;
pray also for luiigs, and powers,
and princes.
Heb. iv. 12. And is a discem-
er of the thoughts and intents
of the heart 13* Neither is there
any creature that is not man^
ifest in his sight ; but all things
are naked and opened unto the
eyes of hinr with whom we hive
to do.
1 Peter i. 8. Whom having
not seen ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not; yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy un<
speakable, and full of glory.
1 Peter iii. 9. Not rendering
evil for evil, or railing for railing.
1 Peter iv. S. Who shall give
account to him, that is ready to
judge the quick and the dead.
1 John ii. 7. . The old co[h-
mandment itf the woi^, which ye
have heatd from the beginning.
1 John iv. 3. And every spi-
rit, that confesseth not that Jesus
Cluist is come in the flesh, is not
of God: and this is that spirit
of antichrist, whereof you have
heard, ^.
Ch. iv. But the love of money
is the beginning of all troubles.
Knowing therefore, that as we
brought nothing into the worid,
so neither can *we carry anything
out,
Ch. V. According a^ hp hath
promised us, that he will raise us
up from the dead, and that i^ we
walk worthy of him, we shall al-
so reign with him.
. Ch. iv. Knowing that he sees •
• all things, aud that nothing is hid
from him, not the reasonings, nor
' the intents, nor any secrets of tl^
heart.
Ch. i. In whom, though you
see him not, ye believe, and be-
lieving, ye rejoice with joy un-
speakable and full of glory.
Ch. iL Not rendering evil for
evil, or railing for railing.
Ch. ii. Who com^ (as)
t dei
the
judge of the quick and the dead.
Ch. vii. Let us x^eturn to .the
word, that was delivered to us
from the beginning.
Ch. vu. For whoever confess-
eth not, that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh, is antichrist.
Jude. Ter. 3.
2D
— — earnestly Ch. iii. To isdify yourselves
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60 authenticmr and credibimty op
New Testament. Poltoarp.
contend for the faith, which was in the faith that was delivered
once delivered to the«aints. (given) to you.
No one can compare these qnotations, from the Scriptures and
Polycarp, without heing convinced, not only that he himself was
familiar with the New Testament writings, bu^ that he wrote under
the conviction that those whom he addressed not only believted in
their authenticity, but had made them the subjects of their care-
fbl perusal. "I am confident" says he, <<that ye are well exercised
in the Scriptures, and that nothing is hidden irom you." Thus does
Polycarp, as if unwittingly, testify of scriptural facts as truths, which
j;o far from needing affirmation and arguments to confirm and to prove
them, are tljemselves founded on, as the basis of exhortations to those
who had witnessed, or experienced their reality.
We have now before us the testimony of five witnesses to the
genuineness and authenticity of the New Testaqient Scriptures, all
of whom lived in the age when they purport to have^ been written*
and who were the personal fhends aqd associates of the apostles.
This is not all. Ignatius, in a manner, brings a whole church to sup-
port his testimony to the genuineness of^ the writings, for addressing
the Ephesians, he calls them the cdmpanions in the mysteries of the
gospel of Paul, the sanctified, the mart3nr deservedly most hs^py,
'< Who through all his^epistles makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.'*
Clement, also, brings the church at Corinth to bear a similar testi-
mony ; for when condemning their unchristian contentions, he says :
^* Take into your hands the epistle of the blessed Paul the apostle ;
what did he at first write to 'you at the beginnmg of the gospel?
Verily he did by the Spirit admonish you concerning himself, and
Cephas* (Peter) and Apollos, because *that even then there were fac-
tions or divisions among you.'* * * '
Polycarp likewise brings the Pkilippians to bear testimony to the
genuineness of Paul's epistle to them ; for it was by them, as he
himself related, tliat' he was solicited to write concerning righteous-
ness to a church of which ** the blessed and honored Paul, with whom
lie nor any other w^ to be compared, had been personally the instruc-
tor in the Vord of truth ; and to which, ^hen absent, he had written
an epistle, unto which, if they looked, they would be built up in the
fadth which had been delivered unto them." These fathers quoted
fr6m, and alluded to the New Testament Scriptures, and thus attest
Aeir genuineness and authenticity ; and their writings also prove, that
ftom die beginning, divine authority was attached to them.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. (1
Ignatius asteits that the authority of the Grospel is equivalent to that
of Jesus Christ, were he really manifest in the flesh : ** Fleeing to the
Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus, and to the apostles as the presbjrtery
of the church, let us also love the prophets, because that they also
qpoke of the Gospel, and hoped in him, (Christ,) and expected him**'
And Polycarp declares, that ** whoever perverts the words or oracles
of the Lord to his own lusts is the first bom of Satan.*'
As a consequence of the promulgation of Christianity by the apos*
ties and their fellowrlahoren^, in the language of Dr.. Keith: <«A new
£uth in the heart put new words in the mouth, such as human lips
had not previously uttered. And four memoirs of Jesus Christ, a sin-
gle narrative of the acts of those whom he commissioned to preach his
doctrine, and a few epistles written by some of them to those who
believed it, supplied materials to thousands of writers, without any
intermission, in aAer ages \ for any semblance of which (the Septua^
gint excepfisd) the Alexandrian library, with its thousands of vol-
umes, would have been ransacked in vain. And in the writings of
th^ primitive fathers we clearly see the opening and first working of
an inexhaustible mine of unsearchable riches unlike to all the earthly
i»es, in which no divine treasure can be found. Scriptural facts are
of a different order from all others that have ever been transacted on
the ^eatre of the world ; and Christian writers, partaking of a new
name, professed a new religion, and communicated with each other
concerning things with which tl^ey were familiar, but which had
never etitered into the hea^ of a blinded pagan to conceive. No longer
bent on fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, be^evers
m Jesus handled the pen as none had ever handled it before but the
prophets of Israel, when they indited the thiilgs touching the Mes-
siah ; and, compared even with these, they were not as men who
look for the morning, but as those in whose view a world is spread
forth after the rising of the sun. There is an obvious and essential
dissimilarity between the writings of the Christian fathers and all that
had ever previously been written by uninspired, mortals. New prin-
ciples were founded on new facts ; and the belief of the latter, and '
consequent adoption of the former, as they are recorded and enjoined
in the Christian Scriptures, introduced a ncfw mode of thinking, feel-
mg, and acting, and, consequendy, of writing. In Aose days, Christ-
ians in name were not heathens either in word or deed; and the
•slant writings of some of the earliest martyrs abound witfi tokens
and testimonials of the faith which was first delivered to the saints
and recorded in the Scriptures. A rich tein of scriptural language.
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eS AUTHENTICITY AND CRBDIBILmr OP
as drawn from the New Testament, nms through all they wrote. For
not only the events of which they speak, and the motives which they
urge, but quotations which they avowedly cite, and the peculiar scrip-
tural phraseology which they adopt, show that they were as familiar
with the Christian oracles as they were faithful to their Christian prin-
ciples. These striking and characteristic peculiarities, contradistin-
guishing their works from those of preceding writers, plainly point
to the pattern from which they drew, and show that the doctrine
of the gospel, whether preached or written, was from the beginning
one and the same. Genuine coin, though ultimately passing through
a thousand hands, must first come from the mint, where the image was
impressed which designates its origin and constitutes its genuineness :
and, being ever after recognized at a glance, the question is not asked*
as a doubt does not exist, what it is, or froiti whence it came. And
firom Christian writings,*nearly simultaneoiis with those of the New
Testament, we may see that not only the truth, but the very words
and expressions of Scripture, passed, so to speak, as the current and
unquestioned coin, newly stamped by the hands of the aposdes, of
that kingdom which is not of this world.^
How important then and decisive is the tiestimony derived from
the writings of the apostolical fathers, whose lives proved the truth of
their testimony ; two of whom, as i» well attested, sealed that testi-
mony with their blood. One of them, (Ignatius,) while on his jour-
ney from Syria to Rome, the scene of his martyrdom, by writing
epistles to various churches, incidentally called forth dieir testimony
and confirmed the fact that their faith in Jesus was the same with his
own ; for deputations of the churches met him on liis way as he went
rejoicingly to seal his testimony with his blood ; and with them he
prayed to the Son of God in behalf of the churches.* On the mar^
tyrdom of the other, (Polycarp,) the church of Smyrna, of which he
had be^n the bishop, addressed an epistle to the church of Philadel-
phia and all the churches in every place, which is still extant, and to
which Gibbon refers without expressing a doubt of its authenticity.
In those days martyrdom was no uncommon fate of the believers, in a
crucified Saviour ; and as Christ* sealed his testimony with his blood,
so also did many of hb followers with theirs. Many of the church
at Smyrna, as well as their beloved bishop, were x^ounted as sheep for
the slaughter, whose ^ martyrdom preceded his. They were con*,
demned to be devoured by wild beasts, to the cross, or to die stake, be-
* See Bflbtioii of the Mirtyidom of Ifnatoi.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 68
cause of their.Christian profession; but at any moment they could hare
recovered theb lives, and regained theic liberty by a word, that is by re-
nouncing Christ But many of the Chiiistians of Smyrna, instead of dis-
owning their faith endured the severest tortures without a groan, whiph,
when the savage crowd of idolaters beheld, enraged at their steadfast-
ness, they cried out, « Take away jthe Atheists, let Polycarp be sought .
for.' Thus, unconsciously, they called for a higher testimony, and
soon witnessed a martyrdom, as the 'episde terms it, according to the
Gospel. Soldiers went out into the country as against a thief to seize
the venerable bishop, who, hearing these things, at first continued
unmoved, preserving his firm and unshaken mind, and had determined
to remain there in the city. <« But persuaded by the entreaties of those
around him, and exhorting him to leave the city secretly, het went
forth to a farm not far from it There he staid with a few friends
night and day, engaged ill nothing but constant prayer to the Lord,
and implorihg peace for all the churches throughout the world. For
this had always been' his practice. In this situation, three days before
he was seized, in a vision at night, and during prayer, the pillow under
his head seeihed to him suddenly to take fire, and thus to be consum-
ed. On this, waking out of his sleep, he immediately began to in-
terpret the vision to those present, almost foretelling the'event that was
about to take place, and plainly declaring to those around him, that it
would be necessary for him to give up his life in the flames for
Christ's sake. Those, however, that were in search of him, making
every eflbrt to discover him, he was again constrained by the affection
and love of the brethren to go away to another part of the country.
Thither the pursuers came upon him, not long af^r, and caught two
boys there, one of which they scourged in order to direct them to the
retreat of Polycarp. Entering upon him ^at a late hour of the day,
they found him indeed, resting in an upper room, whence, although he
might easily have escaped to another house, he would not, saying,
' llie Lord's will be done ; ' and having understood also that they were
come, as it is said, he descended and addressed the men with a very
cheerful and mild countenance, so that those who did not know him
before, thought they beheld a miracle, as they beheld the advanced
age of the man, the gravity and firmness of his countenance, and were
suprised that so much zeal should be exercised to seize a venerable
old man like this. He, however, without hesitation ordered a table
to be immediately prepared for the men ; dien requested them to par-
' take of food largely, and begged of them only one hour, that he might
pray undisturbed. As they gave him' permission, he arose and
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prayed, so full bf the gnce of the Lord, that those present who heard
him were amazed, and many of them now repented, that so venerable
and pious a man should be put to death." Beside these things, the
above mentioned epistle respecting him, pursues the narrative as fol-
lows :—
« But after he had ended praying, and had in this remembered all
that had ever been conniected with him, small and great, noble and ob-
scure, and the whole Gatholic (universal) dhurch throughout the
worid, when the hour came for him to go, they placed him upon an
ass and conducted him to the city, it being a great Sabbath day. He
was met by Herod, who was the irenarch, and his father Nicetes ;
who, taking him into their vehicle, persuaded him to take a seat with
them* and said, <What harm ifl there in saying Lord Gesar, and
to sacrifice, and thus save your life ? ' He, however, did not ^t first
make any reply; but as they persevered, be said, <I shall not do
what you advise me.' Failing, therefore, to persuade him, they ut-
tered dreadful language, and thrust him down from the oar with great
vehemence, so that as he descended from the car he sprained his
thigh. But not at ail moved from his purpose, as if nothing had hap-
pened, he eagierly went on, and was conducted to the stadium. But
as there was so great an uproar in the place that not many could hear,
a voice came from heaven to Polycarp as he entered the stadium ;
*Be strong, Polycarp, and contend manfully.' No one saw who it
was that spake ; but the voice itself was heard by many of our breth-
ren.' When he was led forward, however, a great tumult arose
among those that heard Polycarp was taken. At length, as he ad-
vanced, the pro-consul asked him whether he was Polycarp, and he
answering that he was, he persuaded him to renounce Christ, saying,
* Have a regard for your kge ;' and adding similar expressions, such as
is usud for them to say, he said, * Swear by the genius of Cesar.
Repent ; say. Away with those .tl\at deny the gods.' But Polycarp,
with a countenance grave and serious, and contemplating the whole
multitude that were collected in the stadium, beckoned with his hand
to them, and with a sigh he looked up to heaven, and said; * Away
with the impious.' As the governor, liowever,' continued to urge
him, and ^aid, « Swear, and I will dismiss you. Revile Christ;'
Polycarp replied, * Eighty and six yeara have I served him, and he
• never did me wrong } and how can I blaspheme my king that has
saved me t ' The governor still continuing to urge him, and again
saying, < Swear by the genius of Cesar,' said Polycarp, * If you are
so vain as to think that I should swear by the genius of Gesar, as you
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 66
8ay» pretending not to know who I am, hear my free confession. I
am a Christian. But ipyou wish to learn what the doctrine of Chris-
tianity is, grant me a day and listen to me.' The pro-consul said,
* Persuade the people.' ' Polycarp replied, * I have thought proper to
give you a reason ; for "we have been taught to give magistrates and
powers appointed by God, the honor that is due to them, as far as it
does not injure us ; but I do no^ consider these the proper ones before
whom I should deliver my defence.' The pro-consul said, ' I have
wild beasts at hand, I will cast you to these unless yoi; change your
mind.' He answered, < Call them ; for we hslve no reason to repent
from Ihe better to the worse, but it is good to change from wicked-
ness to virtue.' He again urged Kim, 'Twill cause you to be con-
sumed by fire, should you despise the beasts, and not change your
mind.' Polycarp answered, * You threaten fire that bums for a mo-
ment, 9nd is soon extinguished, for you know nothing of the judg-
ment to come, and ihe fire of eternal punishment resierved for the
wicked. But why do you delay ? Bring what you wish.' Saying
these, and many other similar declarations, he was filled with confi-
dence and joyi and his countenance was. brightened with grace; so
that he not only continued undismayed at what was said to him, but
on th^ contrary, the governor; astonished, sent the herald to proclaim
in the middle of the stadium, ' Polycarp confesses that he is a Chris-
tian.' When this was declared by the herald, all the multitude. Gen-
tiles and Jews, dwelling at Smyrna, cried out, * This is that teacher of
Asia, the father of the Christians,* the destroyer of our goids ; he that
teaches multitudes not to sacrifice, not if> worship.' Sajring this, they
cned out, and asked Philip the asiarch, to let loose a lion upon. Poly-
carp. But he replied, that he was not permitted, as he had already
completed the exhibition of the chase in the amphitheatre. Then all
cried out together, thatTolycarp should be burnt alive. For it seem-
ed necessary that the vision which he saw on his pillow should be
fulfilled ; when seeing it on fire whilst he prayed, he turned to those^
few faithful friends with him, and said prophetically, *l must be
burnt alive.' These things were executed, however, with such haste
that they were no sooner said than dotie. The crowd, however,
forthwith collected wood and straw from the shops and baths, espe-
cially the Jews, as usual, freely ofiered their services' for this purpose.
But when the pile was prepared, laying aside all his clothes, and
loosing his girdle, he attempted also to take off his shoe^ which he
had not been in the habit of doing before, as he always had some one
of the brethren, that were soon at his side, and rivalled each other in
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their services to him. For he had always been treated with great
respect on account of his exemplary life even before his gray hairs.
Presently the' instraments prepared for the funeral pile were applied
to him. As they were ako on the point of securing him with spikes,
he said, «Let me be thus ; for he that gives me strength to bear die
fire, will also give me power without being secured by you with these
spikes, to remain unmoved on the pile.' They, therefore, did not
nail him, but merely bound him to the stake. But he, closing his
hands behind him, and bound to the stake as a noble victim selected
from the great fiock, an acceptable sacrifice to Almighty God, said ;
* Father of thy weH-beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, througli
whom we have received the knowledge of thee ; the God of angeb
and powers, and all creation, and of all the family of the righteous,
that live before thee ; I bless thee that thou has Uiought me worthy
of the present day and hour, to have a share in the number of the
mart3nrs and in the cup of Christ, unto the resurrection of eternal life,
both of the soul and body, in the incorruptible felicity of the Holy
Spirit; among whom may I be received in thy sight, this day, as a
rich and acceptable sacrifice as thou, the faithfiil and true (^od, hast
prepare, hast revealed, and fulfilled. Wherefore on this account,
and for all things,! praise thee, I bless theei I glorify thee, through
the eternal high priest, Jesus Christ, thy well-beloved Son ; through
whom glory be to thee with him in the Holy Ghost, both now and
for ever. Amen.' "
Thus did Polycarp give a testmiony which shall never die, and
shewed that in his heart there was a love of Christ which was strong-
er than death. And in the flame the truth of the Gkwpel shown
most brighdy, for what but a firm oonvidtion of its divine origin,
could have induced this aged man, at the expense of life itself, frith-
fully to obey the exhortation t>f the Spirit to him, who was the angel
of the church of Smyrna: «< Be thou feithfiil unto death> and I will
give thee a crown of life.*'
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SECTION n.
We win now prodace the testimony of a few of the Christian fit*
there, who flourished during the second century, which will be found
most dear and satis&ctory. Passing over Papias, bishop of Hiero-
polis, who was well acquainted with Polycarp, and who ascribes two
of the gospels to Matthew and M^rk, quotes fipm the epistles of Pe^
ter and John, and alludes to the book of Revelation, we come to Jiu*
tm^ who was bom in Palestine, about A. D. 89, and was at one peri*
od of his life a heathen philosopher. Had he remained such, and, like
Tacitus, attested the. existence of Jesus Christ ; and at the period in-
dicated in the New Testametit Scriptures, his testimony would have
been considered of great value, but he became a Christian, and that
transition which, in point of fact, gives strength to his testimony, by
a delusion common to both Infidels and Christians, if not guarded
against, will weaken its force. That is, although by becoming a
Christian, the sincerity of his testimony is strengthened, yet it may
be weakened in our estimation, because he did not come down to us
as a heathen philosopher. He was converted to the Christian faith
about A. D. 132 ; and by his death the blood-bought title of mart3nr, •
was added to his. name. He was one of the most learned fathen of
the second century, and wrote several pieces, three of which, and
whose genuineness is undisputed, are still extant. Two of theik are
apologies for the Christians ; one was addressed to the emperor Titus
Antoninus iPious ; the other, which is not entire, was addressed to
the emperor Marcus Antoninus and the senate and people of Rome ;
and his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, already noticed. As his
works were not, like the apostolic fathere, addressed to his fellow
Christians, but two of them to heathens, and the third being a debate
with a Jew\ it is not to be supposed, that he would quote so freely
from the New Testament Scriptures, nor make so many allusions to
their contents as they did. Yet from his works might be extracted
almost a complete life of Christ as written in the gospels.
Lardner sums up the evidence of Justin in the following language :
** He has numerous quotations of our gospels, except that of St. Mark,
which he has seldom quoted. He quotes them as containing au-
thentic accounts of Jesus Christ and his doctrine. He speaks of *' me-
moin" or records, written by *' apostles" tnd "dieir companions;'*
plainly meaning the aposdes and evangelists, Matthew and John ; and
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08 * AUTHENTICrrY AND CREDIBILITY OF
by companions or disciples of apostles, Mark and Luke. These gos-
pels, he says, were read and expounded in the solemn assemblies of
the Christians, as the books of th^ Old Testament were ; and as they
had been before in the Jewish synagogues. Whether any other
books of the New Testament were so read, he does not inform us.
This reading of the g6spels, he mentions in his first Apology to
Antoninus the Pious. He must have been well assured of the truth
of what he says ; and, it is likely, knew it to be the ordinary custom
of the Christian churches he had visited in his travels. If it had not
l^een a general practice, of had obtained in some few places only, he
must have spoken more cautiously, and made use of some limitations
and exceptions. For if there were Christian churches, in which the
** memoirs" he speaks of, were not read ; upon enquiry made by the
emperor, or his order, he had run the hazard of being convicted of a
design to impose upon all the majesty of the Roman empire ; and
that not in an afiair incidentally mentioned, but in the conduct and
worship of his own people, concerning whom he professeth to give
the most just information. The general reading of the gospels, as a
part of divine worsliip at that time, about the year 140, or not very
long afWr, is not only a proof that they were well known, and allow-
ed to be genuine, but also that they were in the highest esteem.
These gospels were not concealed. Justin appeals to them in the
most public manner, and they were open to all the world ; read by
Jews and others.'*
The next we shall notice is Irenmus^ who succeeded the martyr
Poth3mus in the blshoprick of Lyons, about the year 170, or perhaps
a few years later. In his youth he was the disciple of Polycarp,
^erefore his testiniony is of great value. He wrote many works,
but his five books against heresies are all that remain. In these, he
has shown himself to be well acquainted with the heathen authors,
and the absurd and intricate notions of the heretics, as well as the
Scriptures of the Old Testament. The books of the New Testa-
ment he quotes as the Divine Oracles^ the Scriptures of the Lord, and
his works show that he had an intimate knowledge of the gospels,
the acts, and the epistles. Concerning the gospels he says : <' We
have not received the knowledge of the way of our salvation, by any
others than by those by whom the Gospel has been brought to us;"
which Go^l they first preached, and afterwards by the will of God,
committed to writing, that it might be for time to come the foundation
and pillar of our faith. For after that our Lord arose from the dead,
and they (the apostles) were endowed from above with the power of
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the Holy Ghost c6ming down upon them, they received a perfeet
knowledge of all things. They then went forth to all the ends of the
earth, declaring to men the blessings of heavenly peace, having all
of them, and every one, alike the Gospel of God. Matthew, then
among the Jews, wrote a gospel in their own language, while Peter
and Panl were preaching the Gospel at Rome, and founding a church
there ; and after their exit, Mark, also the disciple and interpreter of
Peter, and Luke the companion of Paul, put down in a book the
gospel preached by him (Paul.) Afterwards John, the disciple of die
Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, likewise published a gospd
while he dwelt at Ephesus m Asia." In this passage we have most
satisfactory evidence that the gospels were written and published du-
ring the first age of Christianity, and by the persons whose names they
bear, and from one who lived within a century of the apostolic age,
and possessed ample means of ascertaining the truth upon this subject
In the language of Paley : « The correspondence in the days of
Irensus, of the oral and written tradition, and the deduction of the
oral tradition thiough various channels from the age of the aposdes,
which was then lately passed, and, by consequence, the probability
that the books truly delivered what the apostles tatkght, is inferred also
with strict regularity from another passage of his works. <The tradi-
tion of the apostles,' this father saith, ' hath spread itself over the whole
universe ; and all they who search after the sources of truth will find
this tradition to be' held sacred in every church. We might enum^
rate all those who have been appointed bishops to these churches by
the apostlesv all their successors down to our days. It is by this uninter-
rupted succession, that we have received the tradition which actually
exists in the church, as also the doctrines of truth, as it was preached
by the apostles.' The reader will observe upon this, that the same
Irenaeus, who is now stating the strength and uniformity of the tn^
dition, we have before seen recognizing in the fullest manner, the au-
Verity of the written record ; from which we are entitled to conclude
that they were then conformable to each other." *
Irenseus, in one of his works, attempts to shew ^at there could be
neither more nor fewer than four gospels. With his fanciful argu-
ment we have nothing to do ; yet it is evident from the position itself,
that four, and only four gospels, were at that time publicly read and
acknowledged. He mentions how Matthew begins his gospel, how
Mark begins and ends his, and their supposed reasons for so doing.
* Pdej's Erideiioes, iz. mc 1.
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70 AUTHENTICITT AND CREDIBILITY OF
He enumentes at length the. several passages of Christ's historj m
Luke, which are not found m any of the other evangelists. He states
the particular design .with wl^ich John composed his gospel, and ac-
counts for the doctrinal declarations which precede the narrative. To
the book of the Acts of the Apostles, its author, and credit, the testi-
mony of IrenflBUS is not less explicit. Referring to the account of
St Paul's conversion and vocation in the ninth chapter of that book,.
** Nor can they," says he, meaning the parties with whom he ar-
gues, « show that he is not to be credited, who haa related to us
the truth with the greatest exactness." In mother place he has actu-
ally collected the several texts in which the wriler of the history is
represented as accompanying St. Paul ; which leads him to deliver a
summary of almost the whole of the last twelve chapters of the book.
And, in an author, thus abounding in references amd allusions to Scrip-
ture, there is not one to any apocryphal Christian writing whatever.
••This," says Pal,ey, ••is the broad line of distinction between our
sacred books, and all others."
Passing over Athenagoras, a philosopher who is said to have beea
the most polished and eloquent author of Christian antiquity ; and
Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, the first of whom quoted the gospels
of Matthew and John, the epistles to the Romans, and the two epis-
tles to the Corinthians, and the otfier alluded to the gospels of Mat-
thew and John, the epistle to the Romans, and the epistle to Timo-
thy, we come to •7Vr/t///um, a presbyter of the church of Carthage,
who was bom in the year 160, and died about the year 220. He
uniformly recognizes the four gospels, as written by the evangelists,
distinguishing Matthew amd John as apostles, and Mark and Luke as
apostolic men. His works are filled with quotations by name^ and
with long extracts from all the writings of the New Testament, ex-
cept the epistle of James, the second epistle of Peter, and the second
and third epistles of John. But as he did not profess to give a cata-
logue of the books of the New Testament-^e fact that he neither
quoted nor mentioned these books, is no evidence that they did not
then form a part of the sacred Canpn.
Dr. Lardner has observed, that the quotations from the small vol-
ume of the New Testament by Tertullian, are both longer and more
numerous than the quotations are from all the works of Cicero, in
writers of all characters for severd ages. From what is said in his
works, it appears that so early as his time there was a Latin version of
the New Testament, and also, that the Scriptures were open to the
inspection of all the world, both Christians and heathens.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 71
In the following passage, quoted from his writings by Lardner,
Tertullian speaks emphatically of the apostolical epistles, and of the
testimony then borne to their authenticity and genuineness. « Well,
if you be willing to exercise your curiosity profitably in the business
of your salvation, visit the apostolical churches, in which the very
chairs of the apostles still preside in their own places, in which their
very authentic letters are recited, sounding forth the voice, and rep-
resenting the countenance of each of them. Id Achaia near you ?
you have Corinth. If you are not far from Macedonia, you have
F'hilippi, you have Thessalonica. If you can go to Asia, you have
Ephesus. Bui if you are near to Italy, you have Rome, from whence
you may also be easily satisfied." There are now existing manuscript
copies of the New Testament, older by many centuries, than the ori-
ginal writings then were, and their preservation for a century and a
half is not to be wondered at when the great veneration in which
they must have been held is considered. Copies of them, froQi what
has been ahready stated by Tertullian, were doubtless* to have been
seen in every other church, as quoted by every Christian writer, and
transcribed into Latin, and, as intimated by him, they were thus used
by the multitude. But all that was then necessary to enable any one
to see the chairs of the apostles standing in their own places, and
to hear their very authentic letters recited, was to visit the churches
to which they had been respectively addressed.
Clemens of Alexandria was contemporary with Tertullian. He
gives an account of the order in which the four gospels were written,
and he quotes almost all the books of the New Testament. In one
place, after mentioning a particular circumstance, he adds these re-
markable words ; <* We have not this passage in the four gospeh de-
livered to U8f but in that, according to the Egyptians, which puts a
marked distinction between the four gospels, and all the other histo-
ries, or pretended histories of Christ." In another part of his work»
&e perfect confidence with which he received the gospels, is signifi-
ed by these words ; «' That this is true appears from hence, that it
was written in the gospel according to St. Luke.^' And again, ** I
need not use many words, but only to allege the Qvangelic'voice of
the Lord."*
' The satisfactory testimony of IrenaeOB, Clemens, and Tertullian to
the genuineness and authenticity of the New Testament Scriptures will
* Paley*i Evidenoes, ch. iz. lect 1.
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72 AUTHENnCITY AND CRBDIBIUTY OP
be appreciated by an examination of the following table, which git«»
a list of the quotations contained in each of their writings.
IfeottiM* TBrtalltan» OJsmeni Altzandrimi*
A.n.l7a A.D.90O. , A.D.1M.
MatthewM 195 ' ?90 106
Mark, 16 26 9
Luke, 127 420 23
' John, 75 175 36
Acts,. 57 68 8
Romans, 66 120 37
1 Cormthians, 67 219 59
2 Corinthiand, • / 14 68 14
Gal^tians, 22 67 14
Ephesians, ...... V . - 27 64 16
PhUippians, 10 31 11 .
Colossians, 10 24 8
1 Thessalonians, 2 24 4
2 Thessalonians, * 8 18 1
1 Timothy,. * 5 33 11
2 Timothy, 6 18 5
Titus, w. 2 5 2
Hebrews, 9 12 11
James, • • . 3 2 -0
1 Peter, 5 12 8
1 John, . 6 39 6
2 John, ...• 3 0 0
3 John, 0 2 .0
Beyelation, • • • 38 66 2
767 1802 389
We now descend to the third century, and passing orer a number
of Christian writers, such as Julius Africanus, Amiponlus, Caius Ro-
manus, C3rprian, and many o^ers, we single out the most learned and
laborious of all the Christian fathers who lived during that century,
the celebrated Origen of Alexandria, of whose writings, it has been
jusdy observed, that in quantity, they exceeded the most laborious of
the Greek and Latin authors. He was bom in Egypt, A. D. 184, or
186, and died about the year 253. He was held in high estimation,
not only among the Christians, but also among the heathen philoso-
pners, some of whom, as Eusebius informs us, dedicated their works
to him, and submitted them to his revisal. " He wrote a threefold
exposition of all the books of the Scripture, viz. Scholia, or short
notes, tomes or extensive commentaries, in which he emplo3red idl his
learning, critical, sacred, and profane, and a variety of homilies and
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THE NEW TEOTAMBNT SCRIPTURES. 78
tncts for the people/' * Only a small portion of his works is now
extant, but in them he uniformly bears testimony to the genuineness
of the New Testament, as wq now have it, and he is the first who
gives a catalogue of those books, which are considered by Christians
as the genuine and divinely inspired writmgs of the apostles.
** Nothing," says Paley, ** can be more peremptory on the subject
now under consideration, and, from a writer of his learning and infor-
mation, more satisfactory than the declaration of Origen, preserved in
an extract from his works in EJusebius, <That the four gospels alone
are received without dispute by the whole church of God under
heaven,' to Ivhich declaration is immediately subjoined a brief history
of the respectfve authors, to whom they were then, as they are now,
ascribed. The language holden concerning the gospels, throughout
the works of Origen which remain, entirely ooirespond with the tes-
timony here cited. His attestation to the Aets of the apostles is no
less positive ;, • And Luke also, once more sounds the tnimpet, rela-
ting the acts of the apostles.' The universality with which the
Scriptures were then read, is well si)^fied by this writer in a pas-
sage in which he has occasion to observe against Oelsus, * That it is
not in any private books, or such as are read by a fbw only, and those
studious persons, but in books read by every body, that it i» written,
* The invisible thiiigs of God, from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by things (hat are made.' It is to- no
purpose to single out quotations from such a writer as this. • We
might as well make a selection of the quotationB of Scripture in Dr.
Clarke's sermons.
They are sp thickly, sown in the works of Origin, that Dr. Mill says,
<' If we had all his works remainipg we should have before us almost
the whole text of the Bible." Origen notices, in Order to censure,
^certain apocryphal gospels. He also uses four writings of this sort,
that is, throughout his large work he onoe or twice, at the most, quotes
each of the four; but always* with some mark, either of direct repro-
bation or of caution to his readers, manifestly esteeming them of little
or no authority." t Here then we have the testimony of Origen. to
the genuineness arid authenticity of the New Testament, given about
one hundred and fif^y years after the Scriptures, according to the
united testimony of the earliest Christians, wfere published ; its clear
and decisive character will be seen by an examination of the following
table, for which we are indebted to the valuable work of Dr. Keith.
* Home's ^troductioD, voL i,p. 81. f Pa^y*8 Erideiioei, eh. iz., Mct 1.
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74 0ENUINENE88 AND CBEDIBILTrT OF
Qnotationi firom the New Tttrtuneot in ihe extant wofb of Oiifeo, A:D. SS^
ToLU Yd. II. VoLlU. VoLIt.
Matthew, -152 206 736 250
Mark, ^ 15 18 94 68
Luke, . * • 74 109 808 165
John, 118 132 175 85a
Acts, 21 32 50 44
Romans, 89 ,98 111 433
1 Corinthians, . • w 120 169 161 170
2 Corinthians^ 50 58. 61 79
Galatians, •«•••« ^30 41 82 47
Ephesians, •• 29 98 ' 39 39
Philif)pians, 9 23 , ' 13 * 23
Colossians, 18 , 22 24 27
1 Thessalonians, 7 13 * 18 10
9 Thessalonians, 7 3 10 6
1 Timothy, « 15 21 30 26
2 Timothy, , 9 80- 10 16
Titus, ....v.. 4 3 7 5
Philemon, y ^ '^ ' ^ .
Hebrews, 26 51 40 37 '
James, 1 • . 1 11 2 6
1 Peter, 9 19 17 19
9 Peter, •• -9 2 0 1
1 John, 13 24 13 97
Jude, 3 0 9 1
Revelation, 3 6 25 96
896 1095 1070 1877*
We QDw descend lo the fonrdi centory, and m it we find a host of
witnesses to the genuineness of the bqoks of the ' Now Testament,
•nch as Athanasius, Epiphanes, Eusebiuk, Je/om*, Rufinm, Augus-
tine, Cyril, Gregory of Nazianzen, Ac
Out of these we will select Eusebias, bishop of Cssarea, who flour-
ished in A.D. 315. He was a man of extraordinaiy learning and.
diligence, and was singulariy studious in the Scriptures. He receir-
ed the books of the New Testament neariy as we hare them, and in
his various writhigs he has produced quotations from all, or neariy
all of thom. In his Ecclesiastical History, which is still extant, and
tranidated into the English language, he records the history of Chris-
tianity from its commencement to his own time. In this work he
treats in form and at lar^, of the occasion^ of writing the four gosp^
and of the order in which they were written. The title of the chap-
ter is :« Of the Order of the Gospels," and in it he says •< Thostf
inspired and truly pious men, the apostles of our Saviour, as the j
we^e most pure in their life, and addmed with evny kind of virtue
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 75
in. their minds, but common in their language, relyiif upon the di-
vine and wonderful ehergy granted them, they neither knew how»
nor attempted to propound the doctrines of their master, with the art
and refinement of composition. But employing only the demonstra-^
tion of the Divine Spirit, worl^ing with them^ and the wondei^worko
ing power of Christ, displayed through them, they proclaimed the
knowledge of the kingdom of heaven throughout the world. They
bestowed but little care upon the study of style, and this they did,
because they were aided by a oo-operation .greater than that of men.
Paul, indeed, who was the most able of all in the preparations of
style, and who was most powerful in sentiments, committed nothing
more to writing thair a few very- short epistles ; and this too, al-
though he had innumerable mysterious matters that he might have
communicated, as he had attained even to (he view of the third hea*
▼ens— 4iad been taken up to the very paradise of God, and had been
honored' to hear the unutterable words there. The other followers of
our Lord were also not ignonuit of such things, as the twelve apos-
tles, and tha seventy, together with many others ; yet of all the disci-
ples, Matthew and John are the only ones that have leu us recorded
comments,, and even they, tradition says, undertook it from necessity.
Matthew, also, having first proclaimed the gospel in Hebrew, when on
the pomt of g^ing to other nations, committed it to writing in his native
tongue, and thus supplied the want of his presence to them, by his
writings. But after Mark and Luke had already published t^eir gos-
pels, they say, that John, who dpring all this time, was proclaiming
the gospel without writing, at length proceeded, to write it on the fot*
lowing occasion : The three gospels previously written, having been
distributed among all, and also handed to him, they say that he ad-
mitted them, giving his testimony to their truth ; but that there was
only wanting in the narrative the account of the things done by
Christ, among the first of his deeds, and at tho commencement of the
Gospel. And this was the truth; for it is evident that the other
three evangelists, only wrote the deeds of our Lord for one year
after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and intimated this in the
very beginning of their history. After the fasting of forty days, and
the consequent temptation, Matthew indeed specifies the time of
his history in these words: « But hearing that John was delivered
up, he returned' from Judea into Galilee.' Mark, in like manner,
writes : * But after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee }'
and Luke, before he commenced the deeds of Jesus, in much the
same way, designates the time, JBaying : * Herod thus added yet this
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76 GBNUINBNESS AND OREDIBIUTY OP
wickedness above all he had committed, and that he shut up John in
prison.' For these reasons, the aposUe John,' it is said, being en*
treated to undertake it, wrote the account of the time not recorded by
the former evangelists, and the deeds done by our Saviour, which
they have passed by, (for these were the events that occurred before
the imprisonment of John,) and the very fact is intimated 'by him,
when he says, * This beginning of miracles Jesus made ;' and then ^
proceeds to make mention of the Baptist, in the midst of our Lord's
deeds, as John was at that time * bapUzing at iBnoh, near Salim/ •
He plainly also shows this in the words,. * John was not yet cast into
prison.' The apostle ^erefore, in his gospel, gives the deeds of Je-
sus before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three evan*
gelists mention the circumstances ,after that event. One who attends
to these circumstances, can no lotoger entertain the opinion/ that the
gosp^ Are at variance with each' other, as the gosppl of John com*
pretends the first events of Christ, but the others, the history that
took place at the latter part of the time., It is probable, therefore, that
for these reasons, John has passed by in silence the genealogy of our
Lord, because it was written by Matthew and Luke, but that he com-
menced with the doctrine of the divinity, as a part reserved for him«
by the Divine Spirit, as if for ^ superior. Let this suffice to be said
respecting the gospel of John. The causes that induced Mark to
write his, have already been stated. But Luke, also, in the com-
mencement of his narrative, premises the cause which led him to
write, showing that many others, having rashly undertaken to com-
pose a narrative of matters that hd had already completely ascertain-
ed, in order to free us from the uncertain suppositions of others, in
his own gospel, he delivered the certain account of those things, that
he himself had fully received from his* intimacy and stay with Paul,
and also, his intercourse with the other apostles. But this may suf-
fice respecting these. At a more proper time we shall^ndeavor, also,
to state, by a reference to some of the ancient writers, what others
have said respecting the sacred books. But besides the gospel of
John, his first epistle is acknowledged without dispute, both by those
of the present-day, and also by the ancients. The other two epistles,
, however, are disputed."
Eusebius' account of «< the ^ causes that induced Mark to write," is
as follows : ** After treating of the check, which, according to him,
St. Peter put to the circulation of the delusions of Simon Magus, he
says: *The divine word having thus been established among the
Bomans, the power of Simon was now extinguished and destroyed
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THE NEW TBSTAMBltT SCRIPTUBBa ff
together with the man. So greatly^ however, did the splendor of
piety enlighten the minds of Peter's hearers, that it was not sufficient
to hear bat once, nor to receive the unwritten doctrine of the Gospel
of God, but they persevered in every variety of entreaties to solicit
, Mark, as the companion of Peter, and whose gospel we have, that he
should leave them a monument of the doctrine thus orally communi-
cated in writing, ^or did they c^ase their solicitations until they had
prevailed with the man, and thus become the means of that history
which is called the gospel, according to Mark. They say also, that
the apostle (Peter) having ascertained \^hat was done by the revela-
tion of the Spirit, was delighted with thiB zealous ardor expressed by
these men, and that ihe history obtained his authority for the purpose
of being read in the churches."*
In an oration publicly addressed to Constantine, in the city of Con-
stantinople, Eusebius illustrated the truth of Christianity, and referred
to the prophecies of Jesus concerning the destruction of Jerusalem)
and the extension of the Gospel. In proof of the facts, that Christ
had fulfilled his word of promise that he would make his apostles
fi$her8 of men, he appealed to the truth that from humble fishermen
they had actually become *''the teachers of the whole worid, and that
their writings or books were held in so great authority and esteem
that they had been translated into all languages, as well of the barba-
rians as of the Greeks, throughout the whole world, and that they
were studied by all nations and believed in as divine orades.^t
The plain inference from this statement is, <hat at a very early peri-
od the Gospel was preached unto all nations, and the New Testament
was translated into many languages. Had this not been true such an
argument could not have been publicljr urged without meeting its con-*
futation from every quigrter.
After, the time of Eusebits, flourished Jeit>m, tod towards the
close of the fourth century. He was the most learned of all the
Christian fathers, and resided long in Palestine. From him we have
three formal catalogues of the books of the New Testament, and ex-
cept that in the first he Expresses a doubt about the epist)e to the He-
brews, each of them is exactly as we have them now. He informs
Damascus, bishop of Rome, that '' ias copies were dispersed over the
world, he sat as an arbiter, and distinguished the copies which agreed
with the truth of the .Greek from others."
The great esteem in which the New Testament Scriptures were
* Eusebius* Ec. Hit. pp. 64, es. f Laidner, voL Hi
2h« 2
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79 GENUINENESS AND CREDIB|LITT OF
held during the fourth centurT; the facility with which copies were pro*
cured, and the public |p:ianner in which they were read may appear from
what the emperor Constantine says in a letter to Eusebius : *' The city
that bears our naipe, (Constantinople,) through the goodness of Provi-
dence, increases daily, and there will be occasion for erecting in it
more churches. Wherefore we hope you will approve of our design,
and take care to procure fifly copies of the divine Scriptures, which
you know to be necessary in churches, of fine parchment, legible,
and e^ily portable, that they may be fitter for use, transcribed by
such as are skillful in the art bf writing." . Surely it must be conceded
that the martyrs of the three .first centuries, and this Christian empe-
ror, in the fourth, (who possessed infinitely better means of ascertain-
ing the truth upon this subject than our modem anonymous Italian, or
Mr. Taylor of London, possibly could have,) must have had com-
plete assurance of the genuineness of the New Testament Scrip-
tures, or they never could have acted with tho^ sincerity and zeal they
manifested, nor. could any of them have made the sacrifice^ which
have been stated.
Thus have we shown that both the enemies and the friends of
Christianity, during the first four centuries, give a united testimony to
the genuineness of the New Testament Scriptures ; therefore we may
here close this branch of the argument, for to pursue it farther, in the
language of Paley, '* could only prove that the books of the New Tes-
, tament never lost their character and authority/' And if the evidence
adduced is deemed unsatisfactory it must arise not from a want of
strength, but from a want of candor of mind. It is true that those who
are not acquainted with ecclesiastical history cannot be put in posses-
sion of that vivid conviction which must fiash upon the minds of those
who are well informed upon this subject. But every reader of good
sense and honesty can sufficiently understand the arguments to enable
him to perceive the great n^ass of solid and undisputied facts which
have been adduced in favor of the genuineness of the New Testament
Scriptures.
The number and antiquity of the manuscripts of the New Testa-
ment constitute an argument for tlie genuineness of its books which
must not be passed over. They amount to several thousand, and are
to be found in every ancient library in every part o( Christendom.
Many of them are as old as the eighth, the seventh, the sixth, the
fifth and the fourth centuries. Beza found in the monastery of Irenae-
us, at Lyons in France, a manuscript copy of the ^ew Testament,
which Dr. Kipling, the editor of the fac-simile of it, pronounced to
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCREPTUREa 7^
beloiig to the second century. These manuscripts are so numeroost
and their contents so identical with the quotations contained in the
writings of the Christian fathers of different ages, as places the genu-
ineness of the New Testament beyond a -doubt But Infidels reject
this mass of testimony, overwhelming as it is, when, without scruple,
they receive the classics as the genuine writings of the persons to
whom they are ascribed, although many of them, after having been
hid for ages, have come to us in one manuscript only, and the most
authentic are knowir only from ten to fifteen copies.
What greatly strengthens this branch of the argument, is ^e unex-
pected confirmations to the genuineness of the New Testament, which
have arisen in different ages and from the most opposite quarters.
The bishop of Antioch, about the dose of the sixteenth century, sent
over to Ejarope a manuscript of the second century, in the Syriac, the
language of the inhabitants of Palestine, when the Gospel was
first promulgated. It tsonteina all the books of our New Testement,
except the second and third epistles of John and the book of the Rev-
elation. A further confirmation was afforded by Dr. ClaudiufT Buchan-
an, who, in A. D. 1806, brought from Syria and presented to the
University of Cambridge, a manuscript, in which the sections of each
. book, and sometimes the words, are numbered. It contains all the
books of the New Testament except the Revelatiph, and is supposed
to have been written during the seventh century.
Mr. Wilson, treating of a most curious and important discovery,
which greatly strengthens this argument, says, "Eusebius, (A. D.
315,) speaking of the writings of the 'ancient ecclesiastical men,*
says, < There is also come to our hands a dialogue, a disputation of
Caius, held at Rome in the time of Zephyrinus, (A. D. 195—214,)
with Proclus, a patron of the Cataphrygian heresy, in which he re-
proves th*e rashness and audacity of his adversary in composing new
writings or Scriptures, and makes mention of only thirteen epistles of
die holy apostles, not reckoning that to the Hebrews.* " St. Jerom,
in his book qf iUustriois men, refers to tlie same work, and says it
was a very celebrated disputation.
After citing this passage of Eusebius, Pr. Lardner expresses his
deep regret that Eusebius had not given us the catalogue itself; our
first complete one being that of Athanasius, one hundred and twenty
or one hundred and thirty years later.
Now it is remarkable, that in the year 1740, more than fifteen cen-
turies after the time of Caius, a fragment, which is most probably a
part of the lost dialogue, and if jiot, is confessedly of the same age.
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80 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
was discovered by Moratori, in a mannscript Tdume in the Ambrosian
library in Milan, written in the eighth century. The present learned
president of Magdalen College, .Oxford, published a critical editionof
the fragment a few years slnce^* •
It was probably written towards the close of the second centory,
if not earlier. - It contains not merely a distinct reference to certain
books oCthe New Testament by name, but a 'formal catalogue of
those sacred writings, with observations on the circumstances con-
nected witli them. It makes a marked distinction also between them
and ecclesiastical and apocryphal books. His language is striking,
*< It is not fit that gall should be mingled with honey." In a frag-
ment it is impossible to determine what books might be ennmerated
in the 16st pavts ; but it actually contains a list of twenty-two* books
<^ oar Canon. When we consider that this statement was made in a
publictand celebrated disputation at Rome, and in the. face of heretics,
for the verf purpose of distinguishing authentic from pretended books
of Scripture, and scarcely a century after the death of St. John ; and^
Hhat itjwas referred to by Eusebiud in the beginning of the fourth,
^ *" Dr. Maztiii Rovtb, in his Reliqnis Sacno, Oxn., 1814, vol. u. 1—33. and voL
!▼. 1 — 37. He has completed what Muratori, Gallaadina, Stoschiiu, Kailioa, Mocb- ,
eim, and Freindaller had begun. As the fragment is exquisite, and has never, I be- *
liete, appeared in our language, I shaU be excused if I attempt* tranflation, so £w
as the imperfect state of the feeding will allow. It begins of course abruptly.
*At whichj however, he was present, and thus he described things. In the
third pla^e, is the book of the goepel according to St Luke. Luke the physician
wrote it in due order, in bis own name, after the ascension of Christ, when Paul
had taken him with him, as oi/e also studious of truth. Yet neitheir did he see tiie
Lord in the flesh; but as }ie had a perfect knowledge of every thing, he begins to
speak from the birth of John. In the fourth place, the go^)el of John, one of the
disciples. He upon being urged to write it by the fellow-Hlisciples and bishops, said
to those afound him, 'Fast with- me now for three days, and what shall be revealed
to each let us communicate, Uiat we may know whether the Goepel shall be written
or not' The same night it was revealed to Andrew, one of the apostles, that John
should write every thuig in his own name, all the rest giving it their authority.
And, ^erefore, although various points are tayght in the sev^ gospels, yet the
faith of those who believe does not differ; since by one guiding and over-ruling
Spirit, the same things are ^bolnred in all the books concerning the nativity, the
passion, the resurrection, the conversation of the Loii with his disciples, and his
twofold advent; the first when he w«i despised in Iris humiliation, as it was fore-
told; the second, which is yet future, when he shall be glorious in royal power.
What wonder, therefore, if John s<> coKfidently dedaies everything in bis epistles
also, sayyig of himself, ' Those things which we have seen with our eyes, and heard
with our ears, and our hands have handled, have we written.' For thus he professes
himself, not only a beholder and hearer, but also a writer, in due arder,'of all the
wonderful things of the Ijord.
But the Acts of all the apostles are written in one book. Luke comprehends them
in the work addressed to the excellent TheopfaUus, because ev^ry thing took place in
his presence ; as other accounts clearly declare the sufferiiijgs of Peter and the jour-
ney of Paul from Rome to Spain.
out the epistles of Patil, what they are, firom irhat plaoe they were aent, or fit»m
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBiiS. 81 ■
and again, by Jerom, in the beginning of the fifVh ^sentory, as of ao*
knowledged authority, it mast be aQowed to afford a striking confir-
mation of our argument.
A manuscript fragment of the second century, discovered in the
eighteenth, is a proof as extraordinary as it is conclusive. It checks
the whole account of Uie authenticity."*
Thus it appears that we have two more of MichaeHs* marks that a
book is' genuine ; for the immediate friends of the writers of the books
of the New Testament, and who were best able to decide upon the
subject, so far from denying them to be theirs, expressly asserted
them to be the writers, quoted copiously from them, and, some of
them, sealed their testimony with their blood. And so far from a
long series of years having elapsed aAer the death of the writers, in
which the books were unknown, from the beginning to ^e present
time, they have been well known, and extensively circulated ; and
copies of tliem, which were Written little over a century after the
death of the original writers, are still in existence.
Modem Infidels, with their accustomed disregard df truth, assert
that the writings of the New Testament were not considered as ca-
what cause he himielf declares to those who are willing to enqmra; fint of all, foN
biddii)g heresey i^ schism to the Corinthians, and arcnmcision to the Galatiana.
He wrote, however, more at length to the Romans, according to the order of the
ScapCures, teaching that Christ was the dhief end of them. Each of which things
we must of necessity discuss, rince Che blessed Jipostle Paul himself, following the
Older of his senior John, writes only to seven churehes by name, in such order as
tiiis ; first, to the Corinthiana; secondly, to the Ephesians ; thirdly, to the Philippi-
ans;' fourthly, to the Colossians; fifthly, to the Galatians; sixUily, to the Tfaessa-
lonians ; seventhly, to the Romans. But although he wrote a second time to the
Corinthians and l^iessalonians for reproof, yet but one church is acknowledged, sca^
tered over the whole world. And John also in the Apocalj^pse, although he writes
to seven churches, yet speaks to all. Further^ one epistle to Philemon, and one to
Titus, and two to Timothy, from affection and love; yet are they sanctified and
counted sacred, in the honor of the Catholic Church, and in the direction of eocl^
siastical discipline. There is circulated also another to the Laodidans, and another
to the Alexandrians, forged in the name of Paul, to support the heres| of Marcion;
and many mora which cannot be received into the €a!Solic Church. For it is not
fit that gall should be mixed with honey. But an epistle of Jude, and two of the
above written by John, are accounted genqioa in tire Catholic Church. And the
Book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon, in honor of htm. The Apoc-
alypses of John and Peter are the only ones'we receive, which last some -Christians
do not allow to be read in the church. Further, tb^ Shepherd was written by Her-'
mas, very lately, in oar tihM in the city of Rome, bishop Pius, his brother, fill-
ing the See of the eity of Roipe. And, therefore, it ought mdeed to be read; but it
cannot be published in the church to the people to the end of time, either amongst
thd prophets, whose number is complete, or amongst Uie apostles. <But we receive
nothing whatever of Arsinoe*s, or Valentin's, or Mitiades% who have also writtm a
new Book of Psalms for Marcion; the supporters, together with BssUides, of the
Asiatic Cataphryges.* "
* WUson*s Evidences ef Chriatiaiiity, vol. I pp. 118— ISO.
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82 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
nonical until tbe meeting of the coimcQ of Laodieia, A« D. 364. The
lirath Li, that the canons of this eouncQ are the earheat extant, which
give a formal catalogue of the books ; and, from what Lardner says
upon the subject, it is evident, that the bishops then present did not
dyign to settle the canon, but to mention those books which should
be publicly read. The language of the council as quoted by him is :
** That private psalms ought not to be read (or said) in the churches ;
nor fmy books not canonical, but only the books of the Old and New
Testament." . And in the last catalogue, all the books of the New
Test^ent are included, with the exception of the Revelation.
That the books to be received as canonical werQ not determiiied by
the authority of any council is evident from the different judgments
of the more early Christians concerning several books, especially the
epistle to the Hebrews, and the Revelation, which were received by
seme and doubted by others. There was no catalogue of the books
of Scripture in any canon of the council of Nice whiph met A. D.
824; and Augustine, who flourished about A. D. 390, when he
grves directions to persons how to determine what books are canon-
ical, and « what are not, does not refer to the decision of any conn-
cil, but shows that el all times Christian churches have been left Co
tbe liber^ of judging for themselves according to the evidence. The
reason why the book of Revelation was suspected by some during the
third and fourth centuries, was that it was supposed to favor the views
of some who in those days were deemed heretical, because they held
that the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ would be pre-mil>
lenial, and who, according to tlieir opponents, in connection there*
with, held doctrines which tended to licentiousness. But, by a 9lose
examinafion of the book, its genuineness was eonfirmed, and, from
shortly after that period to the present time, it has been so received by
all the churches. Son^e also questioned the genuineness of the epistle
to the Hebrews, the second epistle of Peter, the two last of John,
and the epistle of Jude.
But it is worthy of reniark, that the books concerning which any
doubts existed, do not in any way touch the general truth of the Gos-
pel, and that although a few doubted, as is evident from Eusebius, the
vast majority of Chrbtians received theip as the.genuine writings of
those to whom they are ascribed. This very detfl^eration greatly
strengthens the weight of their testimony, for it exhibits that ufpright-
ness and discrimination which produce eonfidence in those who ai9
caUed to examine and compare testimonies.
Concerning the manner in which the sacred Canon was settled,
2
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THE NEW TBfETAMfiNT SCRIPTURES. S8
Mr. Home says all that is necessary in few words: "The gospels
^ere written at various periods, ai4 published for very different
classes of believers ; while the epistles were addressed, as occasion
required, to those various Christian communities, which, by the suc^
cessM labors of the apostles had been spread over .the Uien known
world, and also to a few private individuals* Different churches re-
ceived different books, according to their situation -an(f circumstances.
Their canons were gradually enlarged ; and at no very great distance
of time from the age of the apostles, with a view to secure to futjire
ages a divine and perpetual standard of faitli and practice, their wri-
tings were collected together into one volume under the title of the
* New Testament,' or the « Canon of the New Testament.* Neither
ibe names of the persons that were concerned in making this colleo-
tion, nor the exact time when it was undertaken, can at present be
ascertained with any degree of certainty ; nor' is it at all necessary
that we should be precisely informed concerning the particulars. It
is, sufficient for ns to Jcnow that the principal parts of the New Tes-
tament were collected before the death of the apostle John, or at
least, not long aAer that event''* That they were collected and cii^
cnlated amon^r the churches about the time specified by Mr. Home,
as every canoid reader who has pemsed the preceding pages must-
concede, has been abundantly proved, and that not only by the testi-
mony of die friends of Christianity, but by the concessions of its
most violent enemies.
* Home's Introduction, voLn.
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84 OEinilNENESS AND OESIBILITT OT
CHAPTER IL
«BlfmNBIfB^9 AVTHBMTICITT AlCD CRKDIBILITT OF THE NBW TB8TA*
MENT BCRIPTUBBS*
An investigatioa of the style of the New Testament Scriptures
would bring out a positiTe evidence in favor of their genuineness,
well calculated to make a salutarjr impression upon the mind of the
honest enquirer. But as this subject has been treated of by many
learned men, such as Home and others, to whose works the reader
is referred, and evidence of this sort, however weighty in itself, not
being so well calculated to arrest the attention of the Infidel, we wi^
pass on to consider what Mr. Taylor presents as proofs to support the
two first propositions of his manifesto ; the falsehood of which pro-
positions we have fully proven. But that every weapon may be tak-
en from the hands of this reckless blasphemer, we will again state his
proofs, ^d answeir them in consecutive order.
In support of his first proposition, viz : ** That the Scriptures of
the New Testament, were not written by the persons whose names
they bear,V Mr. Taylor pretends |o give the following proofs:
'** Because it caimot be shown by my evidence, that they were writ-
ten by the persons whose names they bear ; and because it can be
shown by evidence, both external and internal^ that they were writr
ten by other persons. By evidence external f in the formal acts and
edicts of Christian emperors, bishops, and councils, issued from time
to time, for the general alteratioo, or total renovation of these Scrip-
tures, according to their own caprice. [^Note. — Such were those of
the emperors Constantino and Theodosius, and this of the emperor
Anastasius : • When Messala was consul (that is in' the year of Christ,
506,) at Constantinople, by order of the emperor Anastasius, the Holy
Gospels, as being written by illiterate evangelists, are censured and
corrected.' Victor Tununensis, an African bishop, quoted by Lard-
ner, vol. iil. page 67. See also an account of a general alteration of
these Scriptures, • to accommodate them to the faith of the orthodox t*
by Lanfranc, arcbhishop of Canteibury, as recorded by Beausobre,
Historic de Manichee, vol. i. p. 343.] And in the admissions of the
most learned critics and divines, as to the alterations which these
Scriptures have from time to time undergone. , £iVb/e— (1st.) * There
were in the MSS. of the New Testament one hundred and thirty
Aousand various readings.* Unitar. New Ver., p. 22. (2nd.) < The
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THE N£W TESTAHENT SCRIPTURBa f$
Hunuscript from which the received text was taken, were stolen by
the librarian, and sM to a skyrocket maker, in the year 1749/ Her-
bert Marrii, bishop of Peteiborough, vol. ii. p. 44U (drd.) For the
book of Revelation there was no original Greek at all, bat * Erasmuf
wrote it himself in Switzerland, in the year 1616.' — Bishop Marsh*
1K)1. i. p. 820.] By etfidence internal: in the immoral, vicious, and
wicked tendency of many passages therein remaining ; and by the
insertion of others, whose only drift is to enhance the power of
kings and priests. [iVb/e. — See Rom. iii. 7; 1 John ii. 10 ; Heb.
xii. 29 ; Rom. xiii. ; 1 Peter ii. 13. ; Luke ziv. 26 ; inc.'] ,
That they (the Scriptures of the New Testament) did not appear
in ^e times to which they refer, is demonstrable, By evidence ex-
ternal— In the express admissions of ecclesiastical historians, of their
utter inability to shew when^ or where, or by whom this coUection of
writings was first made. [See Mosheim's Eccles. Hist.— Jones on
the Canon, ^., passim.] And in the admissions of the most learn-
ed critics, as to the infinitely suspicious origination of the present
Received Text ['The Received Text9 rests upon the authority of
no more than twenty or thirty manuscripts, most of which are of lit>
de note.*— Unitar, Ver. Intcod. p. 10. * It was completed by the £1-
sevir edition of 1624 ;' i6. Mark well ! the retaining therein, and
circulating as the word of God, ,with consent or connivance of all
parties, several passages, known and admitted by all to be forgeries
and lies. 1 John v. 7. ; 1 Tim. iii. 16. Excellent morality this !*']
Mr. Taylor speaks of acts and edicts for the general alteration* or
total renovation of the Scriptures, with a confidence which is weU
calculated to make a false impression upon the minds of those who
are not acquainted with ecclesiastical .history, and are not informed
concerning the true character of the man who makes the statement.
The .assertion is a gross falsehood : nothing of the kind is to be found
in any history whatever. With respect to those attributed by him to
Constantino and Theodosius, the reader will observe that, most dis-
honorably, he mentions neither the time when they were passed, nor
the book in which they are to be found. To support his allegation
of an alteration of the Scriptures in the reign of Anastasius, he quotes
a passage from Victor, an obscure author, who wrote a chronicle of
about twelve pages : and the sentence cited appears in Dr. Lardner's
work. But this dishonest manifesto writer, Mrhile he quotes the pas-
sage which makes for his purpose, says not a word of the evidence
which was before him on the same page, of the total falsehood of the
statement, as it is understood by some modem Infidels.
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86 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
But that the reader may judge for himself, ^e whole of D^. Lard-
ner'8 article is here presented r ** Victor Tununensis, an African bish-
op, who flourished about the middle of the sixth century, and wrote
a chronicle, ending at the year 666, says : ** When Messala was con-
sul, (that is, in the year of Christ, 506,) at Constantinople, by order
of the emperor Anastasius, the holy Gospels, being written by illiterate
evangelists, are censured and corrected."
Some have hence argued, that the copies of the New Testament, of
the Gospels at least, have not come down to us, as they were origin-
ally written, they having been altered in the time of the emperor An-
astasius, who began his reign in the year 401, and died in 518.
It was impossible to attempt, in the sixth century, an alteration in
the sense, or in the words of the Gospels, or any other books of the
New Testament without great offence to Christians in general : for-
asmuch as there were at that time in ^very part of the known worlds
in Europe, Asia, and Africai numerous copies of the books of the
New Testament in the original Greek, and in the Syriac, Latin, and
other languages, into which they had been translated.
That no alterations were made in the gospels, or other sacred books,
is apparent hence, that our present copies agree with the quotations
in ancient Greek and Latin authors, and with the translations made
before the time of Anastasius.
This story of Victor deserves no regard, because he is singular ; as
is observed by Mill in the place above cited, and by others. There is
no other writer mentions it, beside Isidore of Seville, who transcribed
Victor; whereas, if ever such an attempt had been made by Anasta-
sius, and any books had been published with alterations, it would
have made a great noise in the world, and would have occasioned a
general outcry. The emperor Anastasius was far from being popu-
lar in his government ; and there wee extant writings of contempora-
riei, as well as others, in which he is freely and grievously reproach-
ed; nevertheless, there is no notice taken of this affair, which would
have given greater and more' general offence to Christians than any
isiderations, as seems to me, are sufficient to show, that
have, with good reason, generally looked upon this story
fabulous. I therefore content myself with what has been
rved, without proceeding farther."*
Pye Smith, of England, who wrote an able refutation of
• Lai^iier,ToLv. 1S4, 125.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 87
Ihe allegations of Mr. Taylor, sets this subject at rest. After shew-
Ing that Anastasius was ezceeeding unpopular during the greater part
of his reign, and that he was involved in the most distressing tumults
and sanguinary wars, and that his enemies, both on political and reli-
gions accounts, were very numerous, active and powerful, presents
the absurdity of the allegation in a strong light. He says : <* On the
supposition that he, (Anastasius,) or any other person, had attempted
an alteration of the received text of the Gospels, or any part of
the Scriptures whatever, the following considerations present them-
selves.
■ 1. Anastasius would have brought upon himself the outcry of
censure and indignation, from all parties and classes of men profess-
ing Christianity. These parties were considerable in both numbers
and influence, and they were full of jealousy and vigilance towards
each other. If the partizans, on any one side, had been dishonest
and daring enough to make alterations in the public copies of the sa^
cied books, or any parts of them, they would have been immediately
detected by their opponents, and ignominy would have followed the
exposure. A circumstance quite in point occurred to this veiy em-
peror. He directed what he looked upon as an amendment to be
made, by the omission of only a little clause of four words, in an an-
them which was used in public worship. The innovation was resisted
with so much violence by the people of Constantinople, that many
lives were lost Anastasius was obliged to take refuge on board a
ship, and it was with extreme difficulty and the most humiliating con-
cessions that he escaped dethronement. Who caa believe that he
could have succeeded in ,an enterprise, infinitely more hazardous, and
which all parties would have regarded as most criminal, that of alter-
ing the text of the Holy Gospels ?
2. It is fair and proper to enquire by what conceivable means any
mortal could have made such an attempt. The art of printiof not
beii^ invented till nearly a thousand years aAer, books were at that
time multiplied only by hand writing. Anastasius might* therefore,
have employed transcribers to write a certain number of copies of the
four Gospels, with his alterations ; and then he might have given them
away, or sold them, or ordered them to be read in the churches.
But how could he prevail upon all persons and families, all communi-
ties, sects and parties, to destroy their own old copies, and sit down
quietly virith adulterated ones ? Was it possible that the man, who
could not obtain the alteration of a hymn in his own metropolis,
would be able to effect this astonishing enterprise, not only there, but
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88 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
diTongh every other city and every province T The original language
of the New Testament was the vernacular speech of the country.
We know, from abundant historical evidence, that copies of the Goa-
pels, and 6ther parts of the New TesUment existed ip great abun-
dance and in wide diffusion. Imagine the most peremptory orders to
have them delivered up, the most vigorous execution of thos^ orders*
and the severest punishment on refusal ; all history and all experience
prove the perfect impossibility of the most powerful and despotic
government ever succeeding in any similar measure. The tyranny
of all such attempt^ makes men indignant ; and, when the effectual
concealment of a thing so small as a few rolls 6r leaves of parchmem
was so very easy, they would not tamely part with a valuable posses-
sion, in many cases a family inheritance, or the property of a society.
Could an unpopular sovereign, with a discontented people, and totter*
ing on a precarious throne, ever have been foolish enough to ventort
upon such a thing? Let us even admit the incredible supposition^
Aat he could have succeeded, in this act of domiciliary plunder and
oppression over his own subjects ; they formed only a small portion of
the Christian world. Nearly the whole of Europe, and the entire north
eoast of Africa (which was then, filled with Christian communities,)
belonged to other governments, which were, probably -without excep-
tion, hostile to Anastasius. The people of those countries possessed
^ir copies of the New Testament, botli in private hands, and as the
property of communities, and that in the original as well as in various
translations. Would they have tamely yielded their dearest posses-
sion to be burned and destroyed, at the bidding of an enemy, a for*
eign tyrant, a man held in universal execration ?
8. There had lived, from the first century down to the time of
Anastasius, numerous writers, in both Greek and Latin, the two great
languages at that time of the civilized world, who quote very copious-
ly from the New' Testament. Of these authors many are now extant ;
and so ample are their citations that, by merely extracting and ar-
ranging them, all the principal parts of the apostolic writings might
be made out. Thus fact has always presented an insuperable barrier
against every attempt to make alterations in the sacred books.
4. The historian Evagrius, who was bom soon after the death of
Anastasius, and who writes much at length concerning the events of
his reign, gives not the most distant hint of any charge of this nature
upon the character of that emperor. Other authors, also, who lived in
the very times, and who are not sparing in representing his vices and
tyranny, are silent as to any accusation on this head. It is, therefore,
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 80
to the last degree, inconsistent with the rales of historical credibility,
that snch an action, which, had it really occurred, must not only have
been of public notoriety, but would have provoked universal bpposi*
tioo, should have been received upon the single statement of an Afri-
can writer, so obscure as to be almost unknown, who lived far from
the scene of action, and who might so easily be the subject of mis-
understanding or misinformation.
6. A probable reason can be assigned for the origin of the whole
story, and the mistakes of Victor. Dr. Richard Bentley, the glory
of Euglish scholars, has adduced a pasjsage from Liberatus, another
ancient but little known author, affirming that Anastasius accused
Macedonius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, to whom he was a
mortal enemy, of having made alterations . in some copies of the
gospels which he had given out to be transcribed. Also Peter Wes-
seling, a Dutch critic and historical antiquary of great 'eminence, has
shown that, in the reign and among the subjects of Anastasius, there
was a warm dispute concerning th^ reading of a clause in the gospel
of Matthemr, ch^p. xxvil. 49. which, either way, was of no real im-
portance. If the accusation brought against Macedonius were weA
founded, it would follow, as a natural consequence, that the emperor
would order the alterations (whether they were unintentional mistakes
or changes made designedly) to be corrected in the copies referred to.
If the accusation were a false one, it might still be widely circulated.
On either supposition, a magnified and distorted rumor might easily
come to Victor of Tunna, (or Tennona, or Tonnona, for so obscure
is the place that its name cannot be determined;) *The true fact' says
Bentley, * being no more than this, that Anastasius ordered the
copies to be amended (tanquam ab idiotis librariis conscripta) (u writ'
ten by ignorant icribes ; the story grew in the telling, when it was
got as far as Africa, on purpose to blacken him, that he ordered the
originals to be amended (tanquam ab idiotis evangelistis composita,)
as made by ignoremt evangelists.* Dr. Bentley's Phildenthems
lApsiensis^ p. 125; Wessdingii Diatribe^ &c. p. 146; Utredit,
1738."
To support his allegation Mr. Taylor refers to an account of a gen-
eral alteration of the Scriptures by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canter-
bury, as recorded by Beausobre. M.^e Beausobre was a French
protestant of great learning and research. His writings, it appears,
were chiefly devoted to the elucidation of the evidence, and the en-
forcement of the authority of the sacred Scriptures ; but this unprin-
cipled Infidel dishonestly drags this eminent Christian into the service
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of infidelity, and uses the names of Beansobre and Lardner for pur-
poses the very opposite of those conclusions which they had invaria-
bly demonstrated.
Dr. Pye Smith informs us the passage referred to reads thus : ** We
read in the life of Lanfranc, a Benedictine monk, and afterwards arch-
bishop of Canterbury, published by the Benedictines of the congre-
gation of St Maur, along with the works of that archbishop, thai
having found the books of the Scriptures much corrupted by those
who had transcribed /Aem, he had applied himself to the correcting
of them, as also ^e books of the holy fathers, according to the ortho-
dox faith." This Mr. Taylor terms a general alteration of the Scrip-
tures to accommodate them to the faith of the orthodox. Lanfranc
was an Italian priest, and during the reign of William the Conqueror,
he was instrumental in riveting the chains of ecclesiastical slavery on
Ae English nation. It appears that he wrote commentaries on several
books of the Scriptures which are still extant; and that. he was ad^
dieted to the making of arbitrary alterations in the text, which he
conceived to be amendments. But. by no possibility can this be con-
strued into a general alteration of the Scriptures. Indeed, such an
undertaking was impossible, unless he had in his possession all the
copies in the world.
But supposing that for the purpose of imposing upon the English
nation the spiritual despotism of the See of Rome, Laniranc did find
fault with certain copies of the Scriptures, and of other ancient
Christian writers, in possession of the Anglo-Saxons, as incorrectly
written, or even as designedly altered firom the original, and that he
had them corrected according to his own notion, (the books may
have been incorrect from the carelessness or ignorance of copyists.)
But does this prove that he took the same liberty with the numerous
copies scattered throughout all parts of continental Europe, or that
he had it itt his power to do so ? And, supposing that he did effect
so wonderful an achievement, it b not to be supposed that he could
procure the copies of the Greek original of the New Testament,
which at that time were out of the reacl^ of Saxons, or Normans,
or any others in western Europe ; being confined to the countries
under the eastern empire. But if a work so stupendous and so deep-
ly involving the faith and interest of the whole Christian church was
effected by him, is it i^ot passing strange that the only intimation of
it lo be found in all history, should be contained in one brief sen-
tence, and quoted by M. de Beausobre firom a small book^written by
an obscure author, Richard Simon, a Roman Catholic priest?
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCBIPTURES. 91
To support his allegation concerning the general alteration of the
Scriptures, Mr. T. asserts that the fact is admitted by the most learn-
ed critics and divines, but he gives not their names ; the only answer
therefore, that can be given is, that his assertion is untrue. The vari-
ous readings Mr. T. holds up as a proof of the truth of his allega-
tion, and for its confirmation he refers to the Unitarian New Version.
Here we have another instance of his shameless perversion, as will
be manifest from the perusal of the whole passage, which is contained
in the introduction to that version of the New Testament. Before
presenting it, a few preliminary remari^s are necessary.
The reader has already learned that previous ttf the invention of the
art of printing, about A. D. 1440, books could be multiplied only by
the te4iou8 and laborious process of taking copies in hand-writing, and
that by means of transcripts they were handed down from one genera-
tion to another. All will at once perceive that when this was the only
way of multipl3ring books, great difficulties must have accrued. Ow-
ing to ignorance, haste, carelessness, or design, in the transcribers, and
sometimes to the hastily correcting a supposed mistake, variations from
the original copy would be introduced. These differences were de-
tected, by carefully comparing two or more copies together, and they
were very properly called Variout Reading. Therefore, the number
of the various readings must be the greaie$t where the books have been
most frequently copied. And yet it must be much more easy to settle
what is the genuine reading where there are a multitude of copies of
a book, than where there are only a few, and the various readings are
in proportion to the number of copies, for each copy acts as a kind of
check upon the others. Of the classics which have come down to us«
those works are known to be the most pure of which the various read-
ings are the most numerous.
It is true that where few copies of a book exist, the variations are
few ; but this, so far from being an advantage, is a serious hindrance ;
for in such cases, obscurities and difficulties attach to the text, which
sometimes cannot be removed but by conjecture. Therefore, in the
language of Dr. Smith, " In proportion to the multitude of the vari-
ous readings their individual importance becomes less and less ; for
they are found to refer almost entirely to very little matters, many
of which could not be made apparent in a translation, and at the best
▼^ few produce any alteration in the meaning of a sentence, and
still less hi the purport of a whole paragraph. The reason of diis is,
that the greater multiplicity of copies, though it occasions a greater
number of trifling mistakes, furnishes, at the same time, a stronger
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99 GENUINENB8S AND CREDIBILITT OF
barrier against such as would a£fect the meanings, and especially such
as might proceed from design.
Now let any man of sense apply these facts to the history and
state of the text of our Holy Scriptures. They traveled down al-
most fourteen centuries, in the form of written books, before they
were taken up by the art of printing. But no ancient books have
enjoyed equal means of safe preservation ; because no ancient books
were so early and widely spread abroad among different nations, none
have been so constantly and publicly read, none have been so multi-
plied by transcripts, none have been translated into so many languages
at vety early periods, from the third century to the ninth, none have
bden so often quoted and commented upon by both Greek and Latin
authors, from the very age of their composition through all following
time ; and of no ancient books have the various readings been sought
for with so much labor and anxiety, and published with so much mi-
nute care ; even to a degi^ee which would be censured as needless and
trifling, if exercised upon any classic author. The consequence is,
that of no ancient books whatsoever do we possess a text so critically
correct, so satisfactorily perfect, ais that which exists in the best edi-
tions of the tiebrew and Greek Scriptures." *
That the reader may judge of the tendency and application of the
passage in the Unitarian New Version, to which the writer of the
Manifesto has referred to support his allegation, we now present it
" The number of various readings collected by Dr. Mill, is compu-
ted at thirty thousand. And it is reasonable to believe that, since the
publication of his celebrated edition (in 1707) a hundred thousand at
least have been added to the list, by the indefatigable industry of those
learned critics who have succeeded to his labors, and by the great ex-
tension of the field of their operations, in consequence of the addi-
tional number of manuscripts and versions which have been since
discovered and collated..
These various readings, though very numerous, do not in any
degree affect the general credit and integrity of the text; tjie gener-
al uniformity of which, In so many copies, scattered through almost
all countries in the known world, and in so great a variety of lan-
guages, is truly astonishingf and demonstrates both the veneration in
which the Scriptures were held, and the gr^at care which was taken
in transcribing them. Of the hundred and fifty thousand Various
Readings which have been discovered by the sagacity and diligence
^Dr.J.Pye Smith's Answer to the.ManiliBrto of the Ch. Et. Sodatf.
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THE IfEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTUBE8. Of
of collators, not <me tenth, nor one hondredth part, make any pef-
eeptible, or at least, any material variation in the sense. This will
appear credible, if we consider that even the mmutest deviation from
the received text has been carefully noted ; so that the insertion or ,
the omission of an article, the substitution of a word for 4li equivalent,
the transposition of a word or two in a sentence, and even variations
in orthography, have been added to the catalogue of Various Readings*
In those variations which, in some manner, affect the sense, the
Tme Reading often shines forth with a lustre of evidence which is
perfectly satisfactory to the judicious enquirer. In other cases,
where the true reading cannot be exactly ascertained, it is of little or
no consequence which of the readings is adopted; for instance,
whether we read Paul the sertmnti or Paul the prisoner of Jesus
Christ; (Philemon, ver. 1.) Also, where the Various Readings are
of considerable importance, consisting, for example, in the omission
or addition of sentences or paragraphs, (of which there are scarcely
hiJf a dozen in the whole New Testament, and still fewer in the Old
Testament,) the authenticity of the rest of the book remains wholly
unaffected, whatever decision may be passed upon the passages in
question. Thus the genuineness of the gospel of John continues
unimpeached, whatever may become of the account of the pool of
Bethesda, or of the narrative of the woman taken in adultery.
The various readings which affect the doctrines of Christianity are
very few ; yet some of these are of great importance, viz : Acts xx«
28. ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 John v. 7. Of those passages which can be
justly regarded as willful interpolations, the number is very small in-
deed ; and of these the last mentioned text, 1 John, v. 7, is by far
the most notorious, and most universally acknowledged and repro-
bated.
Upon the whole, we may remaric, that ike number and* antiquity
of the manuscripts which contain the whole or different parts of the
New Testament, the variety of ancient versions, and the multitude
of quotations from these sacred books, in the eariy Christian writers,
from the second century downwards, constitute a body of evidente
in favor of the genuigkeness and authenticity of the Christian Scrip-
turesfar beyond that of any book of equal antiquity.** Impr. Ver.
of the New Testament, Introd. pp. 22, 28.
Dr. Pye Smith, in his reply to Taylor, of the various readmgs,
says : *' The well informed Christian is so far from deprecating the
study of them, or wishing to hide the fact of their existence with re-
gard to the Scriptures, as well as all other ancient books, that he
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04 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OP
would rejoice ia the farther discoyery of good and ancient maniucripts
or yenions, though they might add hundreds or eyen thousands to
flie list ; for he knows that they could only haye the effect of stifl
more establishing the text of the best editions, or of putting an end
to the fcw dtfkulties which still exist"
Hie prince of classical critics, Richard Bentley, on this subject
fays : <' The result of the whole is, that either, a posteriori^ aU ancient
books, as well as the sacred, must now be laid aside as * uncertain
and precarious' (the terms used by Collins, on whom he is animad-
verting ;) or else say, a priori, that all the transcripts of aaered
books should haye been privileged against the common fate, and
exempted from all slips and errors whatever. Which of these our
writer and his new sect will dose with I cannot foresee. There is
in each of them such a gust of the paradox and the perverse, that they
equally suit with a modern free-thinker's palate ; and, therefore, I
shall bestow a short reflection oa both.
If all the old authors are abandoned by him, there is one com-
pendious answer to this * Discourse of Free-thinking.' For what be-
comes of his boasted passages .out of Cicero, Plutarch, and his long
list of ancient free-thinkers, if the text of each is precarious P Those
passages, as they came from the author's hands, might be for super-
stition, which are are now cited against it. Thus our writer will be
found /elo de ee; unless tiie coroner, to save his effects, favors him
with hii ovm titles of fool and madman.
But I have too much value for the ancients, to play booty about
theur works and monuments, for the sake of a short answer to ' a fool
according to his folly.' All those passages, and all the rest of their re»
mains, are sufficiendy pure and genuine to make us sure of the writer's
design. If a corrupt line or dubious reading chance to intervene, it does
not darken the whole context, nor make an author's opinion or his pur-
pose precarious. Terence, for instance, has as many variations as any
book whatever, in proportion to its bulk ; and yet, with all its inter-
polations, omissions, additions or glosses, (choose the worst of them
on purpose) you cannot deface the contrivance and plot of one play ;
no not of one single scene ; but its sense, design and subserviency to
the last issue and conclusion, shall be visible and plain through all the
mist of various sections. And so it is with the Sacred Text. Make
your thirty thousand as many more, if numbers of copies can ever
reach that sum ; all the better to a knowing and serious reader, who
is thereby more richly furnished to select what he sees genuine. But
even put them into the hands of a knave or a fool ; and yet, with the
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CKIPTT7RES. 95
most sinistFoas and absurd choice, he shall not extingubh d» light of
any one chapter, nor so disguise Christianity, hut that every feature
of it wM^^^lill be the same.
' And 'Ais.'hafl already prevented the last ehid and objection, that
sacred boqlb^ ^t least books imposed upon the world at Divine Laws
and Revelatipne; i^Uld have been exempted from the injuries of time,
and secured from^tb^' least change. For what need of that perpetual
miracle, if, with aH;^e present, changes, the whole Scripture k per*
feet, and sufficient t^tall the great ends and purposes of its first writ-
ing ? What a scheme would these men make ! What worthy rule^
would they prescribe to Providence! that, in millions of copies,
transcribed in so many ages and nations, all the notaries and writera,
who made it their trade and livelihood, should be infallible and im-
peccable ! that their pens should spontaneously write true, or be su-
pematurally guided ; though the scribes were nodding or dreaming !
Would not this exceed all the miracles of both Old and New Testar
ment? And, pray, to what great use or design ? To give satisfaction
to a few obstinate and untractable wretches ; to those who are not con-
vniced by ' Moses and the prophets,' but want ' one from the dead '
to come and convert them ! Such men mistake the methods of Pro-
vidence, and the very fundamentals of religion, which draws its votar
ries by * the cords of a man,' by rational, ingenuous and m6ral no*
tions ; not by conviction mathematical, not by evidence miraculous,
to silence every doubt and whim that impiety and folly can suggest
And yet all this would have no effect upon such spirits and disposi-
tions. If they now believe no| Christ and his apostles, ^neither
would they believe ' if their own schemes were complied with."*
We would be guilty of an unpardonable offence, were we to leave the
subject of the various readings without presenting to our readers the
eonclusive argument of M . Gaussen, professor of theology in Geneva;
whose admirable work on the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures has
been translated by Rev. E. N. Kirk, and presented to the America
public ; a rich treasure, the value of which cannot well be too highly
estimated. The importance of the subject and the value of the extract
will more than atone for its length. This excellent author says :
** We would 'first cite here the recent experience of the authors of
a version of the New Testament just published in Switzerland, and
in the protracted labor of which we participated. One single fact will
exhibit to every class of readers, how completely insignificant are the
* Philelenthemg Lipnenii^ pp. 111—114.
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M OENUINENB8S AND CREDIBILITT OF
different readings of the different manuscripts. The translators jnai
referred to, followed, without exception, the received edition^ that w
the Greek text of Elzevir, 1624, so long adopted by all the Frendi
churches. But, as the original plan of their work required them to
introduce into the original* text, the variations the most approved by
ike critics of the last century, they were often embarrassed by find-
ing the impossibility of expressing, even In the most literal F^ench^
the new shade introduced into the Greek by this correction. The
French language, in the most scrupulous version, is not sufficiently
flexible id adopt these differences, so as to exhibit them ; as the
moulds made on the face of a king reproduce his noble features in the
brass, yet without shewing all the wrinkles and veins.
At the same time we are desirous of giving to those of our readers
Tfho are strangers to sacred criticism, two or three other more im«
piessive proofs of this providence, which, for thirty centuries, has
watched over our sacred text.
Pint — ^let us compare the two Protestant translations of Osier*
ivald and Martin. There are few modem versions more like each
other. Both made from the ancient version of the Geneva pastors,
written nearly at the same time and in the same spirit; they differ so
little from each other, especially in the New Testament, that our
Bible societies distribute them indiscriminately, and that it is embar*
rassing to state which we prefer. Yet, if you will take the trouble to
notice their differences in every particular, as we have done in compar-
ing together our fbur hundred manuscripts of the New Testament,
we affirm in advance (and then, we think, below the truth) that these
two French texts are three times, and in many chapters ten times,
more distant from each other than the Greek* text of our printed edi-
tions is ; we do not say from only the least ^esteemed Greek manu-
scripts of our libraries, but from all their manuscripts taken to-
gether. We mean to say, that if some skillful and malicious man,
(as the unhappy Voltaire or the too celebrated Anthony Collins*)
had made his selection from all the oriental and occidental manu-
scripts,'of the worst readings, and the most discordant variations of
our received text, with the perfidious intention of composing a text
the most false ; such a man, we say, (even in emf^loying these varia-
tions, justified by one alone of the four or five huifdred manuscripts
of our libraries,) would not be able, with all his bad intention, to pro*
duee from his labor a Testament less like ours than that of Martin is
like that of Osterwald. Ton might distribute ft in the place of the
true text, with as little inconvenience as you wotild find in giving to
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THE NEW TESTAMENT StoBIPTUBES. 97
the French Protestants, that of Martin rather than OsterwaU's, or Os-
terwald's rather than Martin's, and with much less scruple than you
feel in spreading^ among the members of the Romish churchy the ver-
Bipn of Le Maitre de Sacy.
It is true, these latter books are only translations, whilst all the Greek
manuscripts present themselves as* originals ; and it must be agreed
that our comparison, in this respect, is very imperfecl. But it is not
the less adapted to establish the friends of the word of God, in mak-
ing them comprehend how utterly insignificant the variations are.
But we advance to something more direct and more precise.
In order to gif e all our readers some estimate, at once, of the num-
ber and the innocence of the received readings in the manuscripts of
our libraries, we will present two specimens. The first table contains
ALL THE VARIATIONS IN ALL THE EASTERN AND WESTERN MANUSCRIPTS,
in th^ first eight chapters of the epistle to the Romans. The second
contains the entire epistle, with all the corrections which the cel-
ebrated Griesbachf the oracle of modem criticism, thinks ought to be
introduced. '
These passages have been selected promiscuously, and we declare
that no reason, relative to our argument, has made us prefer them to
others.
We delight in'presenting here, these short documents to those per-
sons whose position does not call them to pursue the investigations '
of sacred criticism, and yet may. have been some.what perplexed by
the at once mysterious and important language so often employed on
this subject by the rationalists of the last century. To hear them,
would you not have believed that modem science was abbut to give *
us a new Bible, to bring Jesus Christ fVom^the throve of God, to re-
store to man, calumniated by our theology, all his titles of innocence,
and to reform all the doctrines of our antiquated orthodoxy ?
As the first term of coitiparison, our columns present first, upon
the first eight verses of the episde to the Romans, merely the dififer^
ences of the text of Martin to that of Osterwald ; whilst the following
columns, instead of comparing only one m^nudcript with any other
one, will show the difference of our text 'from aU the manuscripts
which every critic down to Griesbach has been able to collect. This
indefatigable scholar searched for the epistle to the Romans, first,
seven manuscripts* in Uncial Letters ^ or Greek capitals, believed to
be from thirteen to fourteen hundred years old, (the Alexandrian in
the British museum ;) that of the Vatican^ and that of Cardinal Paa*
nonet, at 'Rome ; that of Ephremi at Paris ; that of Saint Oermainf
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98 GENUINENESS AND €REDIBILITT OF
that of Dresden^ and that of Cardinal Coislin; and finallx a hundred
and ten manuacripta in cursive (small letters,) and thirty others,
mostly brought from Mount Athos, and examined by the learned Mat-
thei, who traveled much in Russia and the east for this purpose,
For the four evangelists the same Griesbach has been able to con-
sult three hundred and thirty'-five.
FIRST TABLE.
SPIStLB TO THE SOVAH'8.
Terae. Text of Osterwdd. Text of Martin^
\. tohe,' to be.
2. which * • • promised befof e^ the which • • before promised.
3. of the race. of the family
4. and who, according to and who was according to
the Spirit, • • was. the Spirit.
was declared. was fully declared.
with power. by power.
the Spirit of holiness* the Spirit of sanctification.
to tviti that is to say.
Jesus Christ our Lqrd. our Lord Jesus Christ
5. in order to lead the in order to lead the
Gentiles to the obedience Gentiles to believe,
of the faith.
6. of the number of whom among whoiA
you also are, you who you dso are, you who
have been called. are called.
'7. called and saints. called to be saints,
grace and peace be . may grace and peace be
given to you from * given to you by
' God our father. God our father.
8. before all things. firstly.
in regard to you all. concerning you all.
is celebrated. is renowped.
These differences of the two French texts are sufficiently insignifi-
cant ; and if any one should tell us that in all the verses, ^ne or other
of the two is inspired of God, our faith would receive from it no great
aid. Now you will see that the variations of the Greek -manuscripts
are still more insignificant.
Let us now observe on the same verses, the table of the received
text, compared with all the differences^ that the hundred and fifty
Oreek manuscripts collected and examined for the episde to the Ro-
mans, can present.
We shall not notice here the differences presented by the ancient
translations, nor those which pertain to punctuation, (this element
being nearly nothing in the mpst ancient manuscripts.)
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES,
99
lye shall translate the first column (that of the received text) ac-
cording to Martin, Who is considered more literal than Osterwald ;
and we shall endeavor to translate, as exactly as possible, the Greek
readings of the second column.
SECOND TABLE.
7%e received text, {that of Ehe-
vir, 1624.)
!• (no difference.)
2. by his prophets.
VaruUions collected from all the
Greek manuecripte together.
8. who was bom.
4. who was declared.
of Jesos Christ our Lord.
and 6. (no dMTereace.) '
who are at Rome, and dear-
ly beloved of Ood, called.
by the prophets.
(in only one manuscript in Paris.)
who was begotten.
(in only one manuscript of Upsal,
and merely by the change of
two letters.)
who was before declared,
(in only one of 22 manuscripts
of the Barberini library.)
of Jesus Christ our God.
(in only one manuscript . of Vi*
enna.)
of God our father.
8. first.
9* concerning yon all.
who are in the love of God, call-
ed. '
(one only MS. the uncial of Dres-
den.)
who are at Rome called.
(two MSS. only, that of St. Ger-
main, uncial, and one of Bom§»
. small letters.)
of God the father.
fonl5r one MS. of Upsal.)'
^rst.'
(The differience cannot be ex-
pressed. It is only in one MS.)
in regard to you all.
(twelve MSS.)
We see it ; these nine or ten different readings are unimportant in
themselves^ and moreover they have in their favor, only one or two
out of the hundred and fifty manuscripts, which h^ve been consulted
upon these eight verses, \i you except the last (** in regard to ydu
all," instead of ** concerning you all,'*) which counts forjt twelve
manuscripts, of which four are uncial or capital letters.
The differences between Osterwald and Martin are three times as
numerous, and ordinarily they have a much more importanft effect
upon the meaning. This comparison, if you extend it to all the New
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iOO GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
Testament, would possess the same character and become even moie
insignificant.
Yet we presume it would be agreeable to those of our readers who
are strangers to such researches, to offer them in a third table, still a
a new test of the innocence of the variations, and of the nullity of the
objection drawn from them.
This table will contain the entire collection of corrections, which
the learned Griesbach, the father of sacred criticism, has thought
proper to introduce into the text of the epistle to the Romans, after
the long researches which he and his predecessors have made upon
the manuscripts. ' .
To appreciate fully the immensity of such labors, we should have
gone personally into this study. . >
At the same time we would remark to the readers of this third table :
First, that Griesbach is, in general, accused by the learned (such,
as Matthei, Nolan, Lawrence, Scholz^ and others,) of being too eager
to admit new readings into the ancient text. The temptation is ex-
plained by the habits of the human heart. The learned Whitby had
already, and not without reason, reproached Dr. Mill for this ; who,
howerer, had not admitted so many corrections as Griesbach.
Secondly — observe again, that we show in this table, not only the
corrections which the leai^ed critic has persuaded himself to udopt^
but ttioffe also which he himself considers as only doubtfid^ and to
be preferred to the sacred text with some remaining distrust I.
THIRD TABLE.
GOSSBCTIOHS OT«RIBSBjiCH IS TEX XHTimX XPISTI.K TO TBS SOXAVS.
ANCIBNT TSXT. NBW TEXT.
(Martinis trahalation.) ' Corrected by Griesbach^
(and translated by us with the ut-
most possible exactness.)
13. to gather some fruit. to gather some fhiit
(there is here only an inversion
• of the words.)
I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed.
(the difference cannot be express-
ed by a translation.)
17. of the Gospel of Christ. of the Gospel. *
19. ' ^ (difference inexpressible.)
21. ' ' (difference of spelling.)
24. wherefore also. wherefore.
27. ^ (difference inexpressible.)
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CBEPTUBE& 101
29. of injnstioe, of imparity, of injustice, of wickedness.
of wickedness.
31. without natural affection, without natural affection, witfaoul
persons who are never mercy.
pacified, without TpLeicj*
CHAPTBS II.
9. indignation and wrath. - .wrath and indignation. '
13. (the article ^Aeomitted.)
OHUPTBS III.
92. to all and upon all them to all tltem that beliere.
that helieye.
25. (article the omitted twice.)
28. we then conclude^ we conclude in fact.
29. (difference inexpressible.)
OHAPrXB IT.
. 1. border of words changed.)
Abraham our fatlvsr. Abraham our ailceSton
4. ^indefinite article omitted.)
12. f article omitted.)
13. (difference inexpressible^
19. and not being weak in faith, he looked not, feeble in faith, to.
he looked not at, &c.
CHAFTXA Y.
14. (difference of spelling.) .
CHAVTBB TI.' ^
1. f pronoun omitted.)
11. fare omitted.)
12. Ut omitted.)
14. ' [to death omitted.)
CHAFTBB Til.
6. that in which, being dead, being dead to that in which,
10. (difference of an accent.)
14. (difference of a letter.)
18. ' (difference of spelling.)
20. (/ repeated for emphasis.)
26. I render thanks to God. thanks be to God.
CHAPTER Till.
1. (words omitted here, which are
transposed to the fourth verse.)
11. by his spirit (Martin says, on account of his spirit
on account of his Spirit.)
26. to our infirmities. to our infirmity.
(another difference inexpressible.)
prays for us with groanings. prays with groanings.
35. (difference cannot be expressed.)
36. (order of the phrase changed.)
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11.
16.
•31.
32.
GBNUINENE8S ANDXIRBDIBTLFTY OF *
cairriB ix.
works of the law.
foir they.
whosoeTer.
ia differenee in the order.)
a difference in the spelling.)
works,
they,
who.
CBAVTXB X.
1. for Israel."
9.
15.
19.
for them*
^difference cannot be expressed.)
f difference of spelling.)
(difference inexpressible.)
(change of the order and the spell-
GHAFTKB XI.
2. against Israel, saying: Lord.
3.
6.
if it is by gracei then it is
no more of works ; Other-
wise grace is no more
grace ; but if it be of works,
dien it is no more grac^,
otherwise work is no more
work.
7.
19.
21.
23.
30.
you yourselves were.
against Israel : Lord.
{and omitted.)
if it i^ by grace, it is no more by
works ; otherwise grace is no
more grace.
difference inexpressible.)^
carticl^ omitted.)
(difference inexpressible.)
(difference of orthography.)
ypu were.
CHAPTES XII.
11. serving the Lprd.
20. if ^en Aine enemy,
!a propoun repeated.)
a prdnoun omitted.)
serving the opportunity,
(this difference is caused bv* the
change of one letter and the
transposition of another.)
if thine enemy.
CHAFTSB XIII.
1.
8.
9.
thou shalt not steal, thou
shalt not bear false wit-
ness, thou shalt not covet.
(difference inexpressible.)
(transposition of words.)
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not covet
9.
14.
CHAYTEK XIY.
(a difference made.by the addition
of two letters.)
(difference inexpressible.)
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THE lOiW TESTAMENT SCBIFTUltES.
IW-
CEAFTSB XT.
1.
2.
8.
» 7. 88 Christ hath also received
. 8. now I say.
19. by the power of the Spirit
of God.
24. 1 will go towards you, when
I shall depart to go into
Spain; and I hope to
see yon.
29. with abundance of blessing
from the gospel of Christ.
U transposition.)
(the difference .cannot be shown
in English.)
(difference inexpressible.)
as Christ hath also receiyed us.
for I say.
by the power of the Spirit.
when I shall depart to go into
Spain, I hope to see you.
with abundance of Christ's bene-
diction.
GHAPTXB XTI.
2. ' (difference inexpressible.)
H. PrisciUL Prisca.
5. who is the first fruits of who is the first fruits of Asia.
Achaia.
6. who has labored greatly for who has labored greatly for you.
us.
IS. our Lord Jesus Christ.
SO.
25.
our Jiord Christ.
(an^en omitted.)
(Griesbach thinks this verse ought
to be at th^ beginning of the
xvth chapter.)
We then see clearly how insignificant those variations are, of
which so much was said at first.
Such is the astonishing preservation of the Greek manuscript
which have transmitted to us the New Testament. Af^r having
been copied and re-copied so many times in Asia, Europe, and
Africa ; in convents, in colleges, in , palaces, or in parsonages ; and
that almost without interruption for fifteen hundred years; afrer
that, during the last three centuries, and especially the last hundred
and thirty years, so many noble characters, so many ingenious minds,
so many learned lives have been consumed in labors, till then unri-
valled in their extent, admirable in their sagacity, and scrupulous as
those of the Masorites ; after that all the Greek manuscripts of tiie
New Testament, buried in private, or monastic, or national libraries,
both eastern and westerut have beeti searched ; after that they have
compared with them, not only all the ancient versions, of the Scrip-
tures, Latin, Salidic, Ethiopic, Arabic, Sclavonic, Persian, Coptic,
Syriac and Gotluc, but also all the ancient fathers of the church who
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104 GENtJINENpSS AND CREDIBILrnr OF
have cited them in their innumerahle writings, both in Latin and in
Greek ; af^r so many researches, see, by our specimen, what ^ey
have been able to find.
Judge them all from this one epistle thus put fully under your eye.
It is the longest and the most important of. the epistles of the New
Testament, «the golden key of the Scriptures," <«the ocean of
Christian doctrii^e." It has ^our hundred and thirty-three verges ;
and among its four hundred and thirty-three verses, ninety-six Greek
words not found elsewhere in the New Testament, And (admitting
even all the corrections adopted or only preferred by Griesbach,)
how many readings have you found in it which change, even slightr
ly, the sense of any phrase ? You have found four! And what'are
they ? We will repeat them.
1. Chap. vi. 6. — ^In place of that in which being deadp
Griesbach reads, being dead to that in which. And remark, that
here the diderence in the Greek is in only one letter (an o in place
of an e,) and that, on the other hand, the' greatest number of the
manuscripts were so much in favor of the old text, that since Gries-
bach, Tittman, in his edition of 1824, has rejected this correction*
and that Lachman has likewise adopted the reading of the old text in
bis edition of 1831. Scholz, however, has preserved the new.)
2. Chap. xi. 6.-— In place of, if by grace, then i$ it no more of
works t otherunse grace is no more grace; but if it be of works, then
it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more wqrk,
Griesbach ha* retrenched the latter part of the phrase.
3. Chap, xii.^1. — ^In place of serving the Lord, Griesbach reads
serving the opportunity.
It will be observed ^at this correction is of tfoo letters in one of
the Greek words, and that also the number of the manuscripts does
not justify the change. Again here,- Whitby told MUl th»t more
than thirty manuscripts,, that all the ancient versions, that Clement of
Alexandria, St. Basil, St. Jerom, all the annotators of the Greeks,
and all the Latins, with the exception of Ambrose, followed the an-
cient text ; and the two scholars we have just named, (Lachman and
Tittman,) the one laboring at Berlin, the other a professor «it Leipsic,
have restored the ancient text in their respective editions of the New
Testament. Scholz, whom the learned world appears to prefbr to aB
who have preceded him, has done the same.in his edition of 1836.
4. Chap. vi. 16. — ^In place of, whether of sin, unto death, or of
righteousness, Griesbach reads, whether of sin, or of righteousness ;
but he marks it with his sign, which indicates merely a faint probabil-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SGRIPTUBEa 105
\fj; and Tittman and Lachman, in their respeetiye editions, have
also rejected this correction. Mr. Scholz has followed them.
We have omitted to re^notice the passage cut off from chap. viii. 1,
becaase it is restored in the fourth verse.
We see, ^en, that such is the admirable integrity of the epistle to
the Romans. According to Griesbach, /our msignijicant come*
turns in the whole epistle ; according to more modem critics, omb
ALONB, and that the most unimportant of the four ; and according to
Scholzt TWO ! . ^
We repeat, that we have not chose|i the epistle >to the Romans as
a specimen, for any other reason than its length and its importance*
We have not tak^n the time to examine whether it presents more or
fewer variaUons than any other part of the New Testament. •
We have just run over, far example, in Griesbach, while re-peme-
ing these last pages, the epistle Tp th^ Galatians, written at the
same time and upon the same subject as the- epistle to the Romans;
and we have there found only the three following corrections which
may affect the sense, or rather the form of the meaning.
iv. 17. They would exclude us ; aayt they would exclude you.
iv. 26. She is the mother of us all ; soy, she is mother of us.
T. 19. Adultery, fomicaticm, impurity; soy, fornication, impurity.
These simple tables, we think, will speak to our readers more for-
cibly than all our general assertions can do.
There are some truths which must be seen with our own eyes.
We have ourselves had the happy experience of this. We had un-
questionably read what others have said upon the insignificancy
of the different readings presented by the manuscripts ; we had often
studied the variations of Mill, and the severe reproaches of his oppd*
nent, Whitby ;* we had examined the writings of Wetstein, of Gries-*
bach, of Lachman, and of Tittman ; but when, twice, in taking part
in the labor of a new version of the New Testament, we had to cor-
rect the French text by the mpst esteemed variations, first to introduce
and then to cut them off, and then to replace, in French, the sense
of the ancient reading : then we had twice, as it were, an intuition of
this astonishing preservation of the Scriptures ; and we have felt our-
selves penetrated with gratitude towards that admirable Providence
which has ceaselessly watched over the oracles of God, to preserve
their integrity so fully.
Let the objection we are answeving now be weighed. Let us be
* Examen variant, lectionom, J. MUlii. Loud. 1710.
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ID5 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
jihown, for instance, how thiee or four variations, which we hare
jnst passed in review, in the epistle to the Romans, and which, in
the opinion of the most modem critics, are reduced to one alone, or
to two, could render the original inspiration an illusion to us.
We admit that, in these three or four passages, as in the other sa-
cred books, where the genuine word of the text might be contested ;
there, and thete alone, of the twp different readings of the manu-
script, one is the inspired word and not the other: we admit that yon
must, in these few cases, divide or suspend your confidence between
two expressions ; but see just l^w far the uncertainty extends: there
it must stop, it can go no further.
' It is calculated that in the seyen thousand nine hundred and fifly-
nine verses of the New Testament, there are scarcely ten viersee
where these differences, which are* most frequently n^erely of a word
MX letter, have any importance.
Thus, then, all the efforts of the enemies of inspiration to over-
throw our faith on this ground, have in the. end only served to estab-
lish it. They have compelled the Church to follow them in their in-
vestigations, and immediately afterward to precede them in the same
• work ; and what have we there discovered ? It is, that the text is
even more pure than the most pious men had dared to hope ; it is that
the enemies of inspiration, and those of the orthodox doctrines, at
least in Germany, have been forced to admit it. They had hoped, after
the labors of Erasmus, of Stephens, and of Mill, to find, among the
manuscripts of our libraries, reacjings more' favorable to the Socinian
doctrines than those which Eeza and Elzevir employed. Many even
imagined that.the uncertainties would become such, and the discrep-
ancies so grave, that all evangelical belief positive, exclusive as they
termed it, would be overthrown. But it is netjio. It is now a pro-
eii^s terminated; the plaintiffs are non-suited; the inquest having
been made by modem Criticism at their request ; ijl the judges, even
on the rationalist benches,* have pronounced, with entire unanimity,
that it is a lost case, and that the objectors must search elsewhere for
arguments and grievances.
When this question of the integrity of the original ^xt presented
itself for the first time to the excellent and learned Bengel, more than
a hundred and twenty years ago, he was terrified at it ; his honest
and pious soul was profoundly troubled by it. Then began on his
■ ' I ■ ■ I ■
* «<Reiid Machalif, torn, ii., p. S66. Eichhorn. Emkitong, S. th. 8. 700. Edit.
1^^1824." •
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THE NEW TESTAMENT aCRDPTURBS. lOt
part ihoae labon of aacred criticism which gave a new direction to
this science among the Germans. The English had preceded the
Germans in it, but were soon left behind them. Finally, after long
Tesearchea, Bengel, in 1721, happy and confirmed, trusting and grate-
ftil, wrote to his pupil, Reuss : — < Eat simply the bread of the Scrip-
tures, such as you find it ; and be not disturbed if perchance you find
here and there a little fragment of the millstone which has fallen into
it . You may then dismiss all the doubts which have t)nce so horribly
tormented me. If the Holy Scriptur^, which have been copied so
often, and which have so often passed the imperfect hands of men al-
ways fallible, were absolutely without variations, the miracle would
be, so great that faith in it would no more be faith. I am astonished,
on the contrary, that there has resulted from all the transcribings, a
no greater number of different readings.' Th6 comedies alone of
Terence'have presented thirty thousand, and yet they are but six* in
number, and have been copied a thoutoid times less frequently than
the New Testamenf't .^
v*^^t^v^^>^t
SECTION I.
The Manifesto writer asserts that, ** The manuscript from which
the received text was taken, was stolen by the librarian, and sold to
a skyi-rocket maker, in the year L749 ;" aild to support his allegation
he refers to the works of Herbert Marsh, /bishop of Peterborough.
If we had not already seen such disgusting instances of the falBehood
and audacity of this Manifesto writer, one could scarcely have
thought it possible that any man would make and publish such base
misrepresentations, and hold them forth too as quotations from em-
inent authors. The facts which he has thus dishonesdy garbled are
briefly as follows. . -
** The first printed edition of the whole New. Testament, in its ori-
ginal language, was at Alcala de Heuares in Spain, under the direction
of Cardinal Ximenes, in 1513, or 1514. The editors gave no infor-
mation as to what manuscripts they derived their text from, except
the acknowledgment for the loan of some by the reigning Pope, Leo
X. The terms of this acknowledgment ar^ such as imply that they
* ArduTes da Ghristianisme) tome vil. No. 17. — ^Wiseman, Disc on the Relationf
of Science, tome ii.p. 199.
f GmoMen on the Plenary Inspiration of the ScriptmeB, pp. 88—99.
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109 OBNUINENESS AND CREDIBILrrT OF
bad' no manuscripts besides those they thus borrowed^ and whidi
must undoubtedly have been returned to Rome as ston as iSbej wen
done with. Neither is there any historical evidence that tfaoee editocs
bad any other Greek manuscripts, except the assertions of one of
them, Lopez ^e Stunica, in a subsequent controversy which he carried
on with Erasmus. He repeatedly refers to one manuscript, eontatn-
ing only the epistles ; but no one knows what has become of it,'ai^
consequently its age and othes characteristics cannot be ascertained.
Learned men, however, have fonjectured that the editors most have
had somQ other manuscripts besides those Jent by the Pope, and thi«
nondescript one, which rests upon the authority of Stunica; and they
have further conjectured that such manuscripts, if they ever existed^
were deposited in the library of the University of Alcala. If, how*
ever, these two conjectures wer^ well founded, it is veiy certain, from
a critical eaamination of this edition (called the Con^jJutemianf from
complutum, the ancient name of Alcal^^) that none of them were
manuscripts of great antiquity or extraordinary value ; anil it is also
probable that they wete exceedin|(ly few. The low state of litera-
ture in Spain, the terrors of the inquisition, and the influence of a
bigoted despotism, prevented any proper endeavors to find out these
or any other manuscripts of the Greek Testament, till the year 1784,
when the mortifying discovery was made, whidi I will relate in the
words of the late Professor, 'Sir John David Michaelis, of Gottmgen ;
premising that it is the very passage which die Manifesto writer re-
fers to, but in a way whicli shows either extreme ignorance or willful
dishonesty.
* It was natural for every friend to criticism to wish ^hat the manu-
scripts used in this edition, which might be supposed to have been
preserved at Alcala, shodld be collated anew. But the inconceivable
ignorance and stupidity of a librarian at Alcala, about the year 1749,
has rendered it impossible that these wishes should ever be gratified.
Professor Moldenhaw^r, who was in Spain in 1784, went to Alcala
for the very purpose ^of discovering these manuscripts ; and, being
able to find none, he sif^pected that they were designedly )cept secret
from him, though contrary to the genero|is treatment which he had at
other times experienced in this country. At last he discovered that
a very illiterate librarian, about thirty-five years before, who wanted
room for some new books, sold the anciefht vellum manuscripts to one
Toryo, who dealt in fire-works, as materials for making rockets. O,
that I had it in my power to immortalize both librarian and rocketr
maker ! This prodigy of barbarism I would not venture to relate
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 109
tiU Professor Tychsen, who accompanied Moldenhawer, had given
me fresh assurances of its truth. I will not lay it to the charge of
the Spanish nation in general, in which there are men of real learn-
ing; but the author of this inexcusable act was the greatest barbarian
of the present century, and happy only in being unknown.'
Professor Tychsen's account is the following : * As the univer-
sity of Alcala has a very considerable library, and has existed many
centuries, it was reasonable to suppose that it contained many manu-
scripts. Gomez declares that they cost four thousand gold pistoles,
and that among them were seven of the Hebrew Bible. In this li-
brary it la highly probable that the Greek manuscripts were deposit-
ed, which were used for the Complutensian edition, and of which the
German literati have so long wished to have some intelligence. But
all these manuscripts were sold in a lump, about thi
to a roqkef maker of the name of Toryo, and wen
librarian's account (como membranes inutiles^) as m
Martinez, a man of learning and particularly skilled
guage, heard of it soon after they were sold, and
these treasures from destruction ; but it was too
already destroyed, except a few scattered Jeaves, li
served in the library. That the number of manuscripts was very
considerable, appears from the following circumstance : One Rodan
assured Bayer that he had seen the receipt which was given to the
purchaser, from which it appeared that the money was payed at two
different payments.' *
The two preceding quotations are taken from Dr. Marsh's (the
present bishop of Peterborough) translation of Michaelis' Introduction
to the New Testament, vol. ii. p. 441, ed. 1793 ; and it is no small
relief to add t^he learned bishop's own observation on the purpose for
which the manuscripts were so villanously purloined. * This very
circumstance may console us for their loss ; for as rockets are not
made of vellum, it is a certain proof that the manuscripts were writ-
ten on paper, and therefore of no great antiquity. It is true that our
author calls them vellum manuscripts, on account of the words 'co-
mo membranes inutiles,' quoted in his note. But the word * eomo*
makes this expression too indeterminate to lead to any certain con-
clusion.'— lb. p. 834. Yet it may not be unreasonable to apprehend
that the. rocket maker might buy the whole lot, both paper and vellum, '
as the wretched librarian's object was to get rid of them ; and that
the vellum or parchment might be cut up for children's drums and
battledores, as it was not unlikely that the firework-maker kept a toy-
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110 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBIL1TT OF
•hop. But what must we think of the state of a country, and a uni-
vexsity, in which it was possible for a Librarian to commit sueh a
deed ? I beg to add, that the reasoning of professor Tychsea does
not prove the manuscripts to be very numerous ; for, in a poor and
small town, as Alcala now is, and in a country so impoverished by
tyrannical foUy and superstition as Spain has been for three hundred
years, it is exceedingly probable that the firework-maker might not be
able to pay, even the value of twenty shillings, in any other way than
by instalments. And after all, how likely it is, that there was not a
single fragment of the N^w Testament in the whole parcel so shame-
fully destroyed !".
When Mr. Taylor wrote the base falsehood which called forth the
above reply, he acted a dishonorable part If he believed what he
wrote, it is evident that he was utterly incompetent to take in hand
such an undertaking, and he actied very dishonestly in pretending to
an acquaintance with the subject. But if he knew better, and there
is too much reason to belief* he did, how much more base his con-
duct ! All who possess even a superficial knowledge of this sub-
ject, know that there are numerous manuscripts of the Scriptures
deposited in the public literary repositories of Europe, and of all ages,
from the time of the invention of printing, back to within a compar-
itively short period of the time when they purport to have been writ-
ten. Those of the Greek New Testament alone are estimated at
fiat hundred^ to say nothing of other ancient versions, Syriac, Ethi-
opic, Coptic, Armenian, Sclavonic, Gothic, Anglo Saxon, the Latin
Vulgate, &c.
Mr. Taylor also asserts, that for the principal passage in the book
of Revelation, there was rio original Greek at all, but Erasmus wrote
it himself in Switzerland, in the yeai truth of this
statement he again refers to bishop IV nother gross
falsehood, and his pretended reference as I9 its in-
tention and true meaning, is another It appean
that the facts in the case are as follows
<« Though the edition of the Alcals 13, or 1514,
the publication of it wair kept back by the influence of the papal
court, and other causes, for about eight years. In the mean time a
learned and excellent printer at Basle, Jerom Frobenius, determined
* The first edition of the manifesto read, « For ihi book of Revehiian there was
no original Greek at all.*' But Mr. T. received sudi a public rebuke from Dr. Pye
Bmith, that he modified the statement as it now appears in the manifesto, and his
other works, which are circulated in this coantxy.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURES. m
10 confer upon the world the benefit of a complete printed Greek T#b*
lament. He engaged the celebrated Erasmus to oonduot it through
the press; and it was published in A. D. 1516. But though these
distinguished men had incomparably more learning and industry than
the Spanish editors, they could not commaad the resources of kings
and cardinris. Th^y had only, so far as can now be ascertained,,
five or six Greek manuscripts, no single one of which contained the
whole of the New Testament ; but in general, what was wanting in one
copy was supplied by anoth^. Yet from none of them could the kui
Jive verses in the last chapter of the book of Reyelation be furnished*
No man can wonder at leaves and large portions being torn away and
destroyed from ancient manuscripts; the wonder is, that so many and
so much have been preserved through the barbarous and middle ages.
In this difficulty, Erasmus translated the five verses in Greek, from
the ancient Latin Vulgate, which was abundantly enough known to
the learned, and had otien been published before that time. AAei^
wards, when the AJcala edition became accessible, and more complete
manuscripts of the Revelation came to light, it was found that, though
Erasmus had not' hit the very words of the original throughoutf (it
would have been a miracle if he had done so,) he had faithfully ex-
pressed the sense and meaning of every sentence and of every word.'*
for these five verses, although Eras-
jatin Vulgate. Whether these five
tant passage in the book the reader
er estimate upon the honesty of the
ared to judge of. the reliance to be
' necessary to revert to the fact that*
h€te was no original Greek for the
;he Scriptures on account of what he
3 immora), wicked, and vicious ten-
remaining, and by the insertion of
ance the power of kings and priests.
LO; Hebrews xii. 29, xiii. 17; 1
Pet. ii. 13; Luke xiv. 26, A;c. ^. Linumerable texts therein con-
tained, betraying a comparatively modern character, referring to cir-
cumstances which did not exist till later ages, and quoting other
Scriptures which had previously formed the faith of the tet Christ*
ian churches, but which, without any assignable reason or alleged
authority, have since been rejected. See 2 John, 9 ; 1 Tim. iii. 3 ;
James v. 14 ; Matt, xviii. 17 ; 1 Cor. xv. 7. 32 ; I Pet. iv. 6."
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119 GENUINENESS AND CKEDIBILITy OF
This is not the proper place, in which to discuss the fonl ca-
lumny of this basest of all Infidds, that the tendency of Christianity
is immoral and wicked. It must be conceded that such a charge
comes with an ill grace from a man, whose published writings, in
every page, proves that he sets all truth at defiance; who imme-
diately after having written an essay to encourage suicide, palmed
himself on an unsuspecting people as a minister of the Gospel of
Christ. And who, when he was detected in his imposture, in the
grave-yard attached to the very church where he had officiated, com-
menced a series of public attacks upon that Gospel, which but a few
days before he had professed to preach. We will, for the present,
only advise the reader to examine the passages objected against and
he will find that they constitute no exception to the spotless purity^
the holy beauty which animates the whole of these divine pages
But before we pass on it may be well to present the center testimony
of an eminent Infidel, whose immoralities \fere in accordance with
his Infidel principles, but in whose* bosom every spark of truth and
justice was not extinguished. J. J. Rousseau, speaking of the wri-
tings of the evangelists, says : ** The Gospel, that divine book, the
only one necessary to a Christian, and the most useful of all to the
man who may not be one, only requires reflection upon it, to impress
the mind with love of its author and resolution to fulfill his precepts.
Yirtoe never spoke in gender terms ; the profoundest wisdom was
never uttered with greater energy or more simplicity* It is impos-
sible to rise from the reading of it, without feeling a moral improve-
ment. Look at the books of the philosophers, with all their pomp ;
how little they are, compared with this 1 Shall we say that the his-
tory of the Gospel is a pure fiction ? This is not the style of fiction ;
knd the history of Socrates, which ,no body doubts, rests upon less
evidence than that of Jesus Christ. And after all, this is but shifting
the difficulty ; not answering it. The supposition that several pepsohs
had united to fabricate this book, is more inconceivable than that one
person should have supplied the subject of it. The spirit which it
breathes, the morality which it inculcates, could never have been the
invention of Jewish authors ; and the Gospel possesses characters of
truth so striking, so perfectly inimitable, that the inventor would be a
more astonishing object titan the hero."t
Mr. Taylor, in support of hdsallegatidn, that the most eminent
j- J. J. Rousseau, vol xzxyL pp. 36 — 39.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 113
etolesiastical histomns admit their inability to show when, or where,
or by whom the New Testament Scriptures were written, refers th«
reader to Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Historyt without giving either the
▼olume or the page where this frightful admission is said to be made.
But in another work, he cites the following passage: <^The opinions,
or rather the conjectures of the learned, concerning the time when
the books of the New Testament were collected into one volume, as
elao about the authors of that coliectiorij are extremely different ; this
important question is attended with great, and almost insuperable dif-
ficulties, to us in these latter times." This passage is to be found in
Maclaine's translation of Mosheim. Dr. Smith, however, gives a
very different version of the passage, wliich, according to him, should
read; **As to the time in which the books of the New Covenant
were collected into one body, and the persona wlio made the coUeC"
turn (hujus negotii auctoribus,) the opinions, or rather conjectures,
of the learned are extremely various ; for the question is surrounded
by difficulties very great, and in the present day scarcely possible to
be completely removed." The reader will at once perceive, from
the connection, that the manifest sense of the passage is much more
clearly given in the translation by Dr. Smith, than in that of Maclaine.
Mr. Taylor gives another quotation from , Mosheim, but fraudulently
suppresses a portion of the text, by which a very different impression
is made upon the mind of the reader from that intended by the author.
Mr. Taylor's quotation is this, •* Not long after Christ's ascension in-
to heaven, several histories of his lifb and doctrines, full of pious
frauds, and fabulous wonders, were composed by persons, whose in-
tentions, perhaps, were not bad, but whose writings discovered the
greatest superstition and ignorance. Nor was this all ; productions
appeared which were imposed upon the world by fraudulent men, as
the writings of the holy apostles." The true reading of the passage
is this ; ** Not long after the Saviour's ascension, various accounts of
his life and doctrines, full of delusive and fabulous representations,
were composed by -persons, perhaps not absolutely wicked, but su-
perstitious, weak minded, and infected uoith the notion that deception
to serve the cause of religion was aliotoable^ AAerwards writings
appeared, purporting to be by the holy apostles of Christ, but which
were the forgeries of impostors." It will be at once seen, that by
omitting the words in. Italips, Mr. Taylor presents the language of
Mosheim in a different light from what he designed it to be understood.
But this is the smallest portion of his offence. In his endless per-
versions of evidence and fact, Mr. T., to decoy his readers into the
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Hi GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
belief that the New Testament Scriptares are not genuine, while he
gires garbled quotations from Mosheim, he carefully suppresses the
connection, which would have placed the whole subject in a very dif-
ferent aspect from what he intended. As it is highly probable that
this work may come under the eye of some of Mr. Taylor's disciples
and admirers, at the risk of being accused of tediousness and repeti-
tion, the whole passage is here given, as translated by Dr. Smith,
with those parts of it suppressed by Mr. T. m Italics. «< Among
the teachers of the Chriatians who served the church by their tMv
tingif the highest rank is righiftdh/ due to the aposUes^ and those
of their disciples j whom God inspired to record the history (^Christ
and his cqiostles. Their writings, comprised in a single volume,
are m the hands of aU Christians. With regard to the origination
and communication to the world of these divine books, and the ar-
guments by whicA their authority from Ood, and their incorrupted
completeness ate evinced, my readers can conitdt those teamed aU'
thors who have prcfessedly examined these topics. As to the time
in which the books of the New Covenant were collected into one
body, and the persons who made the collection, the opinions, or
rather conjectures of the learned, are extremely various; for the
question is surrounded by difficulties very great, and in the present
day scarcely possible to be completely removed. But it is student
for us to know that before the year 150, most of the books of which
the New Testament consists, were read and received as the divine
rule of faith and conduct by till classes of Christians, wherever dis-
persed through the toerld.
Hence it followed that, either while some of the apostles were ac-
tually sunHving, or at least during the lifetime of those who had
been instructed by them and succeeded them, thqse bboks were care-
JkJly separated from other human writings.
We are assured by Eusebius that the four books called the Chs-
pels, were brought into one collection during the life of St. John,
and that he gave his attestation, as an inspired apostle, to the three
former gospels: and there is reason to suppose that the other books
of the New Testament were comparted together, about the same
time.
Several reasons required such a collection to be made at an early
period, and particularly this, that not long after the Saviour's ascen-
sion, various accounts of his life and dbctrines, full of delusive and
fabulous representations, were composed by persons, perhaps not abso-
lutely wicked, but superstitious, weak minded, and infected with the
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCBIPTUREa 115
notion that deception to serve the cause of religion was allowable.
AHerwards writings appeared, purporting to be by the holy apostles
of Christy but whieh wei:e the forgeries of impostors.
T^ese absurd productions would have made the most injurious
corrfusionf and would have rendered the whole history and religion
of Christ uncertain, unless they who presided over the Christian com-
munities had taken care speedily to separate the books which were
really* inspired and written by apostles, from the mass of others,
and to have them brought into one volume.^^
There can be nothing more absurd than the inference drawn by Mr.
T. from lus garbled quotation. It is in substance this : ^< We do not
know by whom, or when tlie books containing the original documents
of Christianity were collected together and published in one bo<^ ;
therefore the individual books of that collection are spurious, and the
history contained in them is not to be believed." Every candid person
must at once perceive that the time when that collection was made, and
the persons concerned in making it, is a matter of curiosity, with which
the genuineness and authenticity of the books have nothing whatever
to do. No one can tell who collect together and published the scat-
tered pieces ef Cicero's orations, or the poems of Horace ; and the
man who would assert that our inability to decide this question is an
evidence, that these are not the genuine works of the persons whose
names they bear, would be laughed out of society ; yet Infidels will
gravely teU us that the books of the New Testament are spurious, be-
cause we cannot tell who pollected the'p together, and the precise date
of their publication. Nothing is more obvious than that in all such cases
those who possessed writings, and those who desired to possess them,
would put the component parts together. Every one would desire to
have his collection as complete as possible, and in the present case the
different Christian churches would assist each other, and all the trans-
cribers would take pains to have tlieir transcripts complete. Nor can
it be shewn that the council of Laodicea, or that of Nice, or any other
constituted body of persons, or any particular individual, formally made
the collection of our sacred books. But it is not only very probable,
but morally certain, that the sacred Canon was formed in the natural
and easy way just mentioned. In the language of Dr. Smith, ^* The
sanguinary persecutions which oppressed the first Christians, would
undoubtedly prevent their books from being transcribed and sold in
public by ^e ordinftry copyists and booksellers in the way that other
Greek and Latin works regularly were, both in Rome and in inferior
cities, as we know from Horace, Martial, and Quintilian. The churches
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11(J GENUINENESS AND CEDIBILITY OF
would be reduced to the necessity of multiplying copies, by borrow**
ing and transcribing among themselves, as secretly as they could ;
just as our forefathers, four hundred yean ago, by their private indus-
try, multiplied and circulated, very abundantly, the treatises of Wic-
lifie, and his translation pf the Bible."
The manifesto writer speaks of the true and genuine gospels of
the most primitive Christians, which he says, " have been rejected ^
without any assignable reason or alleged authority." Here we have
another exhibition of (he grossest dishonesty.
At a very early period, many fictitious narratives of the life and
actions of Jesus Christ and his apostles were fabricated and given out
as the writings of Peter, Niqpdemus, Thomas, Barnabas, and even
Judas Iscariot. Those which have c6me down, to us bear internal
evidence that th^y are the productions of silly and fraudulent persons.
The most of them have long since sunk into deserved oblivion, and
are known only from the writings of the early Christian fathers, who
generally mentioned them only with reprobation, and for the purpose
of condemning them as spurious ; and they were always condemned
by the general body of Christians, Those which are still extant are
collected into a work ^entitled the Apocryphal Testament, and indus-
triously circulated by Infidels in this country. As it is important that
the origin and design of the circulation of this^book should be known,
the history of this ^air is here presented in the language of Dr.
Smith.
•^< These, (the apocryphal b6oks now extant,) were industriously
collected and pnblisheed in Greek and Latin^ by a most distinguished
scholar and zealous Christian, John Albert Fabricius, at Hamburg, in
1703, accompanied by sufficient proofs of their base origin. They
were also translated into English, and most satisfactprily illustrated by
a learned dissenting minister, Mr. Jeremiah Jones. His worH was
published in 1726, aAer the author's lamented death at the age of
thirty-one ; again, at the Clarenden press, in 1798, in three volumes.
The title is < A New and full Method of Settling the Canonical Au-
thority of the New Testament ; wherein all the ancient testimonies
concerning this argument are produced, the several apocryphal books
which have been thought canonical by any writers collected, with an
English translation of each of them, together vr'ith a particular proof
that none of them were ever admitted into the Canon ^ and a fidl
answer to those who have endeavored to recommend them as such.'
This valuable work supplies such a refutation of any shallow pre-
tences of authority on behalf of those spurious productions, as was
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 117
safficient to put all question about them at rest for ever. These trans-
lations were reprinted in London in 1820, without the least acknow-
ledgment of their being taken from Mr. Jones' volumes, omitting his
remarks and arguments which proved their contemptible and spurious
character, and with equally dishonest artifice, endeavoring |6 represent
them as entitled to the same credit as the four ancient, tried and wdl
proved authentic gospels."
Mr. Taylor, when he asserts that the true and genuine gospels of
the ancient Christians have been rejected without any assignable rea-
son or alleged authority, merely imitates his predecessor, Mr. To-
land, who, in his Amynor, published in A. D. 1698, professed to give
a catalogue of books, attributed in the primitive times to Jesus Christ,
his apostles, and other eminent persqns, •* together with remarks
and observations relating to the Canon of Scripture." In that wotIl
he collected whatever he could find relating to the spurious gospels
and pretended sacred books which appeared in the early ages of the
Christian church. These he produced with great pains to the num-
ber of eighty and upwards, and though they were most of them evi-
dently false and ridiculous, and carried the plainest marks of forgery
and imposture, of which, no doubt, he w^ very sensible, yet he
did what he could to represent them as of equal authority widk the
four gospels, and the other sacred books of the New Testament.
To this end* he took advantage of the unwary and ill grounded hy-
pothesis of some learned men, and endeavored to prove that the books
of the present Canon lay concealed in the coffers of private persons,
till the latter times of Trajan or Adrian, and were not known to the
dergy or the churches of .those times, ndr distinguished from the
spurious works of the heretics ; and that the Scriptures, which are
now received as canonical, and others whioh are now rejected, were
indifferently and promiscuously quoted and appealed to by most an-
cient Christian writers.
His design, as well as that of Mr. Taylor, was to show that the
gospel?, and other sacred writings of the New Testament, which were
acknowledged as canonical, really deserve no greater credit, and are no
more to be depended upon than those books which are rejected and
exploded as forgeries. But their pretension on this subject resolves
itself into this, that no facts are certain, because many false ones are
set forth ; or that there is no good money because counterfeit coin
exists. But there are rules for distinguishing pretended facts from
real ones, dnd the fraudulence of the one class does not destroy the
authenticity of the other. And by such marks of discrimination the
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118 GENUINENBae AND CRBDIBItlTY OP
supposititious have been distinguished from the genuine books of tfie
New Testament
The manifesto writer asserts that innumerable texts contained in
die New Testament betray a comparatiyely modem character, and in
his note he refers to a number of such passages. In his Syntagma
and Diegesis, Mr. Taylor dwells at large upon these and other pas-
sages. The falsehood of his assertions, however, have been dearly
shown by his able opponent, Dr. Pye Smith. A ^ew instances we
will present to the reader.
"To show what he, (Mr. Taylor,) calls «the modernism of some
of the passages in the epistles,* he adduces (2 Cor. iii. 6.) where the
common translation has improperly rendered xa4v^i iut^xfju * of the
New Testament.' Here thi9 sapient scholar imagines that he has
detected the usual ^tle of the collected Christian Scriptures ; and,
since that title was not given to the collection till about a cen-
tury after the alleged composition of its component parts, he con-
cludes that this is an anachronism, utterly irreconcilable with < any
supposable circumstances or condition of a Jirst preacher of the Gos^
pel, ere yet any part of the New Testament was put into letter.' (p.
63.) Now, the proper, meaning of the word dui^ific^ is covenant f
agreement^ appointment^ or constitution. In the Heathen Greek
authors it sometimes denotes a tatament or iviU; but it never occurs
in that sease in the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures, made
before the Christian era, and usually called the Septuagint ; nor in any
, part of the Christian Scriptures, as many able critics believe. The
only passages which have been thought to require that sense are Gal.
iii. 15. and Heb. ix. 16, 17. But that, in both these places, the
proper and usual sense of the word, namely, covenant, should be
retained, is, in my opinion, capable of being satisfactorily evinced.*
Hence, the just translation of 2 Cor. iii. 6. is this : * Who hath also
quaUfied us to be dispensers of the new covenant, not of the letter
* ** See Mr. £wing*8 excellent Greek Lexicon, upon the word.^ — ^As Mr. Taylor
makes a^ parade of his acquaintance with the Bishop of Peterborough's Englidi
Tienslation of MiehaslU* InUvduetion to the Netv Testament^ I shall here give a
dose version of Michslis* German Translaiion and Paraphnuea upon these two
passages.
QtA, ii. 15. ThmtkUiofi: 'The contract of a man, when completed, no person
invalidates, or adds new conditions to it" Paraphroae: 'When men have made
and publicly ratified a covenant, neither of tl>e two parties can unsettle the covenant,
or annex to it new conditions.*
Heb. ix. 16, 17. Tranaiaiion .* * For where a covenant is, there the death of the
ncrifice, with which the covenant is made, must follow : for it is only by means of
death that a covenant becomes firm, and it is not legally valid so long as the cove-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 119
but of the spirit ; for iie letter slayeth,. bat the spirit maketh alire/
By ^ the new covenant,' the apostle clearly means the dUpensation or
declaration of the Gonpel, the glad tidings of heavenly mercy to man-
kind, properly called a covenant f because it promises the blessings of
pardon, holiness and happiness, to those only who truly repent, rely
upon the Saviour, and obey his moral authority. It is also called
< the spirit, which maketh alive,' because of the pure, inteUectual,
and mora] nature of its blessings ; and it is thus placed in contrast
with ^ the old covenant ' contained in the Mosaic Law, and which ni
described as ^ the letter which ^layeth,' becausp it required an exter-
nal obedience to many precepts of a ceremonial .and burdensome
kind ; because it threatened the most awful punishments, (see Deut.
xxvii. Ezek. xviii. zxxiii. Heb. x. 28.) and because it made no direct
provision of grace and mercy. This is evident to any one who will
study the connexion.
Upon another passage Mr. Taylor says, * Stewards of the myste-
ries ofOod (1 Cor. iv. 1.) is the title which Paul arrogates to himself
and his colleagues iii imposture ; the very identical and unaltered title
of the pagan hierophants, privy councillors of God !' (p. 72.) With
regard to the latter part of this assertion, I cannot discover the small-
est evidence that this phrase of the apostle, or any one re^emUing it,
was ever given to the heathen priests or hierophants. Yet, if it had
been, no blame would have been involved : for it is the iense of a
term or clause that we are to consider, and the sense here is deariy
the reverse of any pretence to privileged secrecy, or any other artful
contrivance. In every place of the New Testament, in which tiie
word mystery occurs, it has a meaning perfectly opposite to that
which belonged to the heathen mysteries. They were secret commu-
nications, made in the deep recesses of caverns and interior cells of
temples, accompanied with terrifying ceremonies; and the initiated
person was bound by the most dreadful oaths, never to divulge them.
Paul and his colleagues had no secrets of either doctrine or action.
Their whole system of religion was open to universal examination.
They ^ walked not in craAiness, nor handled the word of God deceit-
nantpsacrifice is yet aHve.' Paraphrase : * For, where a coveDant ia made, H is
requisite, according to the customs of the nations^lhat the coTenant-sacrifice suffer
death. Only by the corpses of animals and their bodies deprived of life, does a
covenant become legal^ valid : but, so long as the mediating sacrifice of consecra-
tion it not slain, it is not yet valid, and either of the two parties who made the cove-
nant, may change liis mind and retract.' Annotation: *l translate /m^jtm, com-
fumt; for it b the allusion of the discourse, that, in ancient times, solemn covenants
were made by the blood of animal sacrifices.' "
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XaO GENUINENESS AN1> CRBDIBIUTY OF
fully ; but, by the hanifestation or the truth, commended them-
selres to every man's conacience in the sight of God.' They never
uie the term mystery in any other sense than to denote a fact or doc-
trine, which had been before unknown or imperfecdy apprehended*
but which was now disclosed or explained. The word translated
steward signifies an agent for a superior, an administrator of domestic
or other business ; and the sense of the passage Under consideration,
as given by the best German scholars in Biblical criticism, is this :
< Let no person attribute to us a higher authority or rank than that of
faithful servants, acting under the commands of Christ ou£ only Mas-
ter and Lord, for the purpose of communicating those truths which
men could never have known, had not God condescended to reveal
them.' (Deduced from Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Schleusner, and
Pott.) I have taken this interpretation from German critics, because
Mr. T. affects to have a peculiar regard for that description of writers ;
of whom, however, it is evident that he knows very little.
In the same spirit of defiance to rational evidence, he adverts to
many other passages, putting upon them a construction which tram-
ples upon all the principles of critical interpretation ; and then tri-
umphing in his own wrong. Some of th^se he avowedly derived from
the late Mr. Evanson's * Dissonance of the Four generally received
Evangelists ; ' though they had been answeted by Dr. Priestley in his
< Letters to a Young Man, part ii,' not to urge that their assump-
tions had been sufficiently precluded by many prc^vious writers.
One of his artifices is to take figurative terms literally^ in violation of
all reason and common sense ; that he may put a meaning ridiculous,
or palpably false upon selected passages. ^ In opposition to liis dis-'
tortious, I shall merely hint at the principle of just interpretation, in
the chief of the passages which he has abused ; appealing to the
reader's impartial judgment upon the reasonableness and evidence of
their application ; for the limits I have prescribed do not allow me to
enter into the full explications.
Matt. xi. 12. The distinguished German critics, Schleusner and
Kuhnol, have shown from Hesychius, Philo, Josephus, and other au-
thors, that ^ul^sG^v and apftd^fw are used in the sense of earnestly
desiring and seeking : so that the meaning is, * From the time that
Johh explained the nature of the gospel dispensation and invited men
to accept its blessings, this declaration of truth and grace is eagerly
received, and vast multitudes are, as it were, pressing forwards to the
enjoyment of these benefits.'
Matt. xvi. 18. The word church (UxXfjala) denotes the whole clasa
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 1^1
or bodf of persons who should, in any period of time, believe and
obey the religion that should be taught by the Messiah : a sense of
the word which, so far from indicating an origin later than the epoch
to which we ascribe the writing of the gospels, was employed by the ^
Greek t^slators (the Septuagint) of the Old Testament, long before
the Christian era. See Psalm xxii. (Ixz. 21.) 22.
Matt, zviii. 17. Here the same word occurs in its more simple
and usual meaning, an assembly ^ a company of persons who could
meet in one place for conversation and deliberation. This acceptation
also was familiar to the Grecian Jews long before the time of Christ
It Is found in the Septuagint: Deut xviii. 16 ; xxiii« 1 ; 1 Samuel
xix. 20.
Matt. xix. 12. The misunderstanding of this text was a part of
the errors of the Encratites : but it is absurd to suppose that they or
their errors produced the text The sense and design of the passage
is well expressed in Dr. Priesdey's Paraphrase : «« What you pro-
pose in order to avoid the inconveniencies atO^nding the married
state, whei^ there happens not to be a thorough good liking between
the parties, (namely, not to marry at all,) is more than can be expect-
ed of all persons, though it is not so with respect to some. For some
have little or no inclination to marriage, and therefore may be said,
,in a figurative sense, to be eunuchs from their mother^i womb ; as
others are actually eunuchs by the wanton cruelty of men ; while
others, like myself, wiU devote themselves to a single life, in order to
be free from worldly incumbrances, and to devote themselves more
entirely to the service of religion ; which, though not generally ad-
visable, may be expedient in time of persecution. In this case, let
every person act as he shall find himself able to do, and as he shall
judge to be best 'upon the whole.
Luke ii. 1. iii. 1. The historical accuracy of these dates has been
shown by maby critical and chronological writers, among whom Dr.
Lardner is pre-«minent
John xiv. 2. Because in the Byzantine Greek, lumi was applied to
a monastery^ this brilliant critic would have us conclude that the gos-
pel of John, which here us^ that word in its proper sense of man-
Hon or abode^ was written in a lower age, afWr the monastic life was
foisted in among degenerate Christians, l^ow fMpij occurs in its
proper meaning, in Polybius, and in 1 Maccabees, vii. 38 ; both au-
thors of the second century, before the Christian era : why then
might it not have been used by a genuine writer, ei^ty or nine^
years after that era ? By the same clever sort of reasoning it might
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122 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
be maintained that the works attributed to ^Thucydides, Xenopbout
and Demosthenes, were written by monks in the middle ages ; because
we find, in those works, leaders and presidents called ^yovfitvoif and
that word was used, in the lower Greek, to designate the priors or
abbots of monastaries.
He is pleased also to say, that in Matt. vi. 7. /m) fk^tiOay^^ta
should have been translated * LonU speak like £a^/ti«-— Battus being
a talkative and foolish poet, as modem as you please.' That the
verb /3af f oxoy<rv, which signifies to use lavish and tmsititable expreS'
sions, was formed in allusion to some person named Battus, is suf-
ficiently probable. Suidas mentions a poet of that name, distin-
guished for dull and tedious verses, full of repetitions : but it b utter-
ly unknown at what time he lived, nor have we the least ireason for
imagining that he did not live before the age to which we attribute the
co^^>osition of the gospel of Matthew. On the contrary it is ex-
tremely probable that Ovid (who died almost twenty years before the
crucifixion of Christ) alludes to hiiti, when he introduces a Battus^
as a man in the habit of repeating his words for a perfidious pur-
pose {Metamorphoses^ lib. ii. v. 702.) There was also a Battus
whose history is given by Herodotus, describing him as remarkable
for drawling and stammering. {Melpomenef cap. 163 — 158.) The
expressive word in question might possibly have been derived from
this person. At all events, there is not the shadow of reason for im-
agining that this word did not exist in, and even before, the first cen-
tury of the Christian era.
Further to prop up what this pretender calls < the modernism*
of the New Testament, he is pleased to say, < Our English version
egregiously protes^tizes, whereby the reidly monkish character of
the original is concealed from vulgar suspicion. One of the ten rea-
sons which Chillingworth gives for turning Papist, was * Because the
Protestant cause is now, and hath been from the beginning, main-
tained with gross falsifications and calumnies ; whereof the prime con-
troversy-writers are notoriously and in a high degree guilty.* ' (p. 63.)
Now I will not impute to Mr. T. the ability to contradict this, from
his own knowledge. I believe him to be perfectly innocent of any
critical acquaintance with the early Protestant versions of Luther,
T3mdale, le Fevre d'Etaples, Olivetan, and others ; and that as littb
knows he of the grossly unfair character (so striking a contrast in
this respect to the Protestant translations) of the Roman Catholic
Rhemish version. But I cannot acquit him of deliberate fraud in
another respect With Chillingworth's great work before his eyes.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 123
he selects one of the sophisms which that eminent man enumerates, as
having once impoaed upon himself; and passes by the author's own
answer, which is given in the immediate sequel. It is also import-
ant to be observed, that the sophism is not speaking of the Scriptures
particularly, or alluding to any * falsifications' in citing or translating
them ; except so far as they may be supposed to be included, in a
general accusation of dealing untruly in the quoting or representing
of written documents. The charge, whether it be just or unjust, re-
fers to, citations from all and dvery sort -of authors ; not the sacred
writers merely or chiefly, but the fathers, the scholastic divines, the
canon jurists, and above all, the controversial men of the sixteenth
century. To this general allegation Mr. Chillingworth returns the
general answer; * Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra. Papists
are more guilty of this fault than Protestants. Even this very author,
in this very pamphlet, hath not so many leaves as falsificationa (mi
ealwnnies.* {Chillingworth on the Religion of Protestants; Fref.
p. 23. ed. 1638.)
Mr. T. affirms that ^ the general ignorance of the four evangelists^
not merely of the geography and statistics of Judea, but even of its
language, their egregious blunders, which no writers who had lived
in that age could be conceived to have made, prove that they were not
only no such persons as those who have been willing to be deceived
have taken them to be ; but that they were not Jews, had never been
in Palestine, and neither lived in or at any time near to the times to
which their narratives seem to refer. The ablest German divines
have 3rielded thus much.' p. 63.
These confident statements proceed either from extreme ignorance
or from a more depraved principle. The worst of the ' German dir
vines' (allowing that term to mean the anti-supematuralist biblical
critics) would reject these assertions with ihdignation and abhorrence.
Even Paulus, Wegscheider, Eckermann, and others, who endeavor
to explain the miraculous phenomena upon natural principles, and
Eichhom, who was too nearly allied to them, maintain the authen-
ticity of the gospels, the in^grity of their authors, the real occurrence
of at least the principal facts, the supremely excellent character of
Jesus and his apostles, and the claims of Christianity upon the obedi-
ent reception of mankind, as an institution deri^ved mediately from
God for the most holy and benevolent purposes. I know not a single
German writer upon these subjects, who is held in the least estima-
tion by his learned countrymen, of whom what Mr. T. asserts is in
any degree true ; excepting it be Dr. Bretschneider, of Gotha, with
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124 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OP
regard to onh/ the gospel of John ; and of him I shall speak presently.
Perhaps Mr. T. has imagined, that the numerous hypotheses whidi
have heen advanced, upon the Kterary origin or materials of compih
$ition of the first three gospels, imply a rejection of those gospels,
or some of them, from the estimation of genuineness, authenticity,
and credibility. But he does not at all understand the subject That
there were some previous materials, containing narratives and dis-
courses of Jesus, which have been' severally embodied by Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, is demonstrable from internal evidence, and is plain-
ly recognized in Luke's preface. This subject is familiar to biblical
scholars ; but all the varieties of hypothesis that have bee^ invented,
(whether assuming a single primitive document, or several ; whether
regarding those documents as Syro-Chaldaic, or as Greek ; as merely
oral or as written ; and whatever theory of complication be adopted ;)
taring out the same general result : namely, that the matter oT those
original fragments is comprised in the fuller, and more perfect narra-
tives of our three evangelists ; that tliose documents, therefore, ceased
to be circulated, being superseded hy incorporation with the larger
histories ; that these three larger histories were composed by the per*
sons whose names they hear$ and that, as the apostles and those
other primitive teachers who had been personal disciples of Jesus,
were gradually removed by death, so that oral statements from the
eye-witnesses became less and less attainable, these written relations^
together with the apostolic epistles^ were received by Christians,
throughout Judea and other countries, as the accredited and faith'
fid depositories of the apostolic testimony."*
Thus have we dilated largely on the testimony borne to the genu-
ineness of the New Testament Scriptures, and we have shown in
their true light the wretched shifts to which a certain class of Infidels
have to resort to support their hopeless cause. * We have dwelt upon
this subject so lengthily not merely because of the importance of the
/subject and the abundance of the testimony, a small tithe of which only
has been produced, but chiefly because many of the facts are litde
known ; the works in which they are contai9ed not being within the
reach of the generality of readers, in consequence of which, while
the Infidel can readily command the very small amount of informa-
tion necessary to enable him to sneer, or to assert, many sincere
Christians are destitute of the weapons of defence.
The abundance of testimony which can be adduced in support of
* Dr. J. Pye Smith'i Aniwer to the Manifesto.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 126
the genuineneM and credibility of the NeW Testament Scriptures,
may be estimated from the fact, that the learned and laborious Lard-
ner has devoted eight large octavo volumes to the elucidation of this
subject, and yet the theme is not exhausted. We have said not a word
of the evidence to be drawn from the books themselves, of that which
is afforded by the Jewish writers, or of the testimony given by the
numerous classes of heretics, who, in the early ages of Christianity,
abounded both in the east and the west, and who were ever opposed
to those who received the unadulterated word of the apostles, and
their fellow-laborers. But we have confined the examination, 1st. To
the evidence of some of those whose names have come down to us
as the most celebrated and virulent enemies of Christianity; and while
these men could not enter the inner sanctuary, to behold its beauty and
its glory, nor yet could comprehend the conduct in life, and the bear-
ing in death, of those whose faith was opposite to their own, yet
their testimony is in perfect accordance with Scriptural history, aad
of itself, sufficient to establish the genuineness of our sacred books
beyond the possibility of a doubt ; and 2nd. To the evidence of some
of those to whom th^ sacred writings were addressed, and to whom
they were committed to be handed down from generation to generar
tion ; and the result has been, that those who believed in the truth of
the Scriptures, and, as must be acknowledged, were the most com-
petent judges, have given a full and positive testimony to the genu-
ineness of the New Testament Scriptures; and that having been
proved, the whole question, as to the external evidence, is virtually
settled. Nevertheless, that the weapons of Infidelity may be wrested
out of the hands of its votaries, and that a profound reverence for the
sacred writings may be fixed in the mind of the honest enquirer, in
the next chapter we will continue to trace out the steps of our great
argument
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1S6 CffiNUntENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
CHAPTER m.
eSNXriNENSSS, AUTHENTICITY AND CRSDIBILITT OF THE NEW TESTA*
MEKT SCRIPTURES.
In the New Testament we have foor'distiiicf and circumstantial
histories of the author of the Christian religion, written hy fonr dif-
ferent persons. Two of these were apostles, and the o&er two were
the disciples of Jesus Christ ; 6ne of them after the death of Christ
was the companion of the apostle Paul, and the other of Ihe aposile
Peter. Also the acts of the apostles after they had received thehr
great commission as recorded by Luke. , Besides these histories, we
have twenty-two separate epistles, fourteen of which were written
by Paul; nine of ihem were addressed to seven Christian churches,
the members of which had at one time been Jews or heathens. One
of these churches was in Rome, another in Ephesus, and the others
in various parts of Qreeoe ; the first in the capital of the world, the
second surrounded by the worshipers of the goddess Diana, and the
t>thers in the different cities of a nation celebrated for learning and
wisdom. Two of the other epistles of Paul were addressed, one to
Timothy, the other to Titus, both eminent ministers of the Gospel
of Christ Another epistle he addressed to his countrymen, the He-
brews, wherever scattered over the worid, and the last was addressed
to Philemon, a member, of the church at Colosse. We have also be-
sides these, one epiilile of the apostle James, two of Peter, three of
John, and one of Jude. And last of all, the Book of Revelation of
Jesus Christ, written by John, in which the spirit of prophecy con-
cludes as it began the testimony of Jesus, and commits the charge to
the history of the world, ultimately to confirm that testimony. All
the writers of these books refer to one great subject. They all un-
fold one grand system, professedly a Revelation from God to man by
Jesus Christ. And, as has been abundantly proved, all these books
were written by the persons to whom they are ascribed, and publish-
ed soon after the introduction of Christianity into the worid. The
question now to be decided is. Do these books bear the marks of au-
thenticity, or do they bear those of imposture ? In other words, Is
the record credible?
In the examination of this question, the proper course to pursue is
to enquire, How do we ascertain the credibility of other historical
writings? We take up Hume's history of England; Robertson's
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPrURBS. 127
history of America ; Bota's history of the United States ; and we en-
quire, Do these histories, and the character of the writers, furpish
satisfactory proof of trust* worthiness! Are, the principal facts in
them supported by proper testimonies ? These questions lead to the
proper evidence of the truth and fidelity of a narrative. In the same
way, then, we proceed to examine the credibility of the New Testa-
ment, omitting, however, for the present their divine authority and
inspiration, which will be taken up in their proper order.
The question then is, Are the Christian writers deserving of entire
credit in their narrative, or did the facts they relate occur T Their
genuineness h^s been already proved, which is a very strong argu-
ment for their credibility. ** It is very rare,'' says Hartley, « to meet
with any authentic works of the historical kind in which the princi-
pal facts are untrue. Men who, in the presence of their countrymen,
publish to the world grave historical works, can have no hope of be-
ing read if they falsify the principal facts of their narrative ; all that
such possibly could expect would be disgrace and reprobation." If
Hume or Robertson had falsified the principal facts of their histories,
none would have believed their writings ; but they would have been
overwhelmed with shame and disgrace. Had Bota in his history of
the United States, falsified the principal facts in his history, many of
which occurred within the memory of thousands living in this coun-
try, when he wrote» he would have been viewed by all as insane; and
his work would have instantly sunk into perdition, for the facts which
really occurred were calculated to excite the deepest interest, and to
awaken prejudices from one end of this Union to the other. Within
the memory of man new modes of thinking have been introduced,
and old habits have been broken up, the results of these facts. How
much more is this remark applicable to the books of the New Testa-
ment, the writers of which were eye-witnesses of the facts they d&t
tail during the age in which they transpired; and also, published
them for the establishment of the Christian religion, in the face of all
mankind, foes as well as friends. These writings then, being genuine
and authentic, are credible. The main facts they detail occurred.
Further, if the narratives of the New Testament be genuine, the
principal iaets therein narrated being very extraordinary, and promin-
ent, and their number being very small, prove their credibility. It is
not with the aanratives of the New Testament, as with the histories
alieady referred to, which treat of long, and difficult, and remote
' eeenes of secret ni^gociations and complicated events. But they re-
cord a very few principal &cts, in an extremely brief period of time,
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128 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
which were so notorious, of such unspeakable importance, so imme-
diately and deeply affecting the pursuits, the feelings, and the desti-
nies of men, that it was utterly impossible for >an imposition to have
been practised.
Six or seven great and prominent events comprehend the whole.
1st. A very extraordinary person, called by the authors of these books
the Son of God^, is wonderfully bom into the world. 2nd. He per-
forms a series of most wonderful works, wrought, as the writers say,
before the eyes of a multitude of people. 8rd. He lives a holy and
beneficent life. 4th. He is violently put to death by crucifixion.
5th. He rises from the dead; and 6th. The Holy Ghost descends.
These few. facts constitute the platform upon which the apostles ^ent
forth to promulgate the Gospel, and to change the religion of man-
kind; consequently to subvert all established customs and habits, and
universally to introduce new modes of thinking and acting. They
announced to the Jews, their countrymen, not a new religion, but a
development and completion of the revelation made by the ministry
of Moses and the prophets ; but differing from that in some respects,
and still more from the views which the Jews generally entertained
of it. To all the other nations of the earth these men proposed a
new religion. They announced to them a new God, (for although
he had for ages been worshiped by the Jews, yet to the other na-
tions of the earth he was known only by vague report,) who claimed
the exclusive possession of divinity, and required to be worshiped
without a rival. And whilst the apostles and their fellow-laborers
were employed in this most arduous and stupendous work, they wrote
and published the events already stated to the worid, and before the
eyes of those who had witnessed them. With such a design it was
morally impossible that the apostles and their fellow-laborers, if they re-
ally wrote these histories (as I have abundantly proved they did) would
have falsified a few facts^ and have awakened such an intense interest
Further, these men proposed to the Jews that they should receive
the person thus referred to as the long expected Messiah ; but they
looked for a mighty conqueror, who should appear in all the pomp
and splendor of an earthly monarch, and who should deliver them
from the dominion of the Romans. Sach was not the character of
the Messiah of the apostles. He was a man of obscure birth and
bumble rank in life ; his doctrine was spiritual, his actions were of the
most peaceful nature, he avoided worldly honors. Instead of en-
oouraging his countr3nnen to revolt against the Romans, and assert
their independence, he taught them to submit to the established go-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCREPTURBa 129
venunenty and, afler a short coarse of contradiction and snfferingy he
died upon a crotis. There w^ not one trait of his character whidi
corresponded with the prerailing hope of a mighty conqueror, and a
flplended temporal monarch. But this is not all. They were requite
ed not only to adopt new opinions, but new jNcactices ; to renounce
the religious institutions which had obtained in the nation for upwards
of fifteen hundred years, and to which they were most strongly at-
tached, as distinguishing them from, and advancing them above all
the other nations of the earth ; and which they not only held sacred,
but as recommending them to thtf favor of God. They were re-
quired to forsake the temple and the altar, with all their splendid and
pompous services ; and they were to submit to see the Qentiles in-
vested with the same privileges, and to regard them in every respect
as their equals. Can it be supposed that the apostles could have de»
manded of the Jews, to embrace a religion which necessarily led to
such important changes and cosUy sacrifices, if they themsdives had
not been conscious that the facts which constituted the footing upon
which they made such demand, had not occurred before the eyes of
those of whom they made this demand ? Had these men falsified the
facts, the immediate consequences of their dishonesty would have
been shame and disgrace, without accomplishing one single object
The Infidel objects that the Jews rejected all the demands of the
apostles and their fellow-laborers, that they treated them with scorut
and persisted in their Unbelief. This, however, furnishes no argu*
ment against the credibility of the narratives of the New Testament;
for many thousands of the Jewish people abandoned the religion of
their fathers, and believed in Jesus. Many of these, no doubt, had
been eye-witnesses of the facts related, and all of them had it in their
power to verify the truth of those facts by conversation or correspond*
ence with spectators of themi Their conversion is a strong additional
confirmation of the veracity of the aposties, and by their transition
from Judaism to Christianity they have furnished the Infidel with the
very evidence of which he professes to be in se^ch.
The Infidel may reply, that if the facts related had occurred, the
whole Jewish nation would have received, the testimony, and believed
in Jesus. This reply betrays a want of a correct knowledge of the
workings of the human heart; and the Infidel has lost sight of. the
deeply wounded pride of^the nation, which felt itself disgraced by the
loss of its independence, of the arrogance of its peculiar 6laims tb
the favor of the Almighty, of their insolent contempt for the people
of other countries, and their scorn that they should be admitted to an
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180 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITSr OP
equality with themselves in the honor and benefits of a Revelation
from heaven.
The Infidel has forgotten that the doctrines of Christy and his apos-
tles, blasted all their anticipations of a great prince, who was to deli-
ver them from the power and subjection of their enemies — that it was
cakulated to gall and irritate and disappoint them, to mortify their na-
tional vanity, to alarm the jealousy of an artful and interested, priest-
hood, and that it scandalized the great body of the people by profess-
ing to raise men of all nations to a level with themselves, even those
whom the habits and prejudices of their country had led them to view
under all the disgrace and ignominy of outcasts. The Infidel for-
gets that bitterness, and resentment, and wounded pride lay at the bot-
tom of much of tbe opposition manifested by the Jewish people
against Christianity. In the New Testament we see repeated exam-
ples of their outrageous violence, which is confirmed by the testimony
of many other writers. In the history of the martyrdom of Polycarp,
already given, it is stated that the Gentiles and Jews inhabiting Sm3nr-
na, in a furious rage, and with a loud voice cried out, '* This is the
teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our
godfr, who. teaches all men not to sacrifice nor to worship them."
They collected wood and the dried branches of trees for his pile, and
it is added, « the Jews also, according to custom, atoisting with the
greatest forwardness." It was not a conviction that the facts related
by the apostles were false that lay at the bottom of the opposition of
the Jewish people to Christianity, as is evident from the fact that their
numerous acts of hostility carry on them all the marks of passion, of
fury and resentment. The strength of conviction is not in propor-
tion to the quantity of evidence presented^ but to the quantity of evi-
dence attended to and perceived in consequence of that attention. At-
tention is a voluntary act, and prejudice can turn the attention of the
mind from that which might laud it in a painfid and humiliating con-
clusion.
But to proceed : As already stated, to the Gentiles the writers of
&e narratives of the New Testament proposed a new religion and a
new God. Of the person who was the founder of this religion, they
had never before heard ; the character in which he was exhibited was
very strange, and at the first view very unintelligible, for being igno-
rant of the divine law, and the extent of their own guilt and depravity,
they had no expectation, and they felt no necessity of a Spiritual
Saviour. Tbe doctrines connected with his person, and work, and
the general scheme of Christianity, no doubt, appeared to them ex-
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THE NEW TBSTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 131
travagant, nnphilosophical and false* The system of duties enjoined
would also appear to them very objectionable. Of some of them
they had no idea, and others they viewed with the utmost contempt,
being at war with all their previous views and opinions. Again ;
this new religion must have been so adverse to that they were called
upon to abandon* that the persons who first embraced it would not
only be despised for their fickleness and credulity, and sneered at for
their singularity, but thereby the hatred of zealots and bigots would
be incurred, the suspicion and jealousy of the higher powers would
be excited, and they would be subjected to that punishment which
might be deemed necessary to check this new innovation.
By what means did the discourses of the apostles and their writ-
ten records which have been transmitted to us, obtain credit among
men, who not only could have no predisposition in favor of this reli-
gion, but who, from all their previous habits and methods of thinking,
and from the circumstances by which they were surrounded, must
have felt a strong prejudice against it ? Certainly nothing short of
evidence the most clear, convincing, and overwhelming, could have
efifected so wonderful an achievement. These people must have be-
lieved in the credibility of the narratives, they must have been tho^
oughly convinced that the facts already stated did occur. This is a sat-
isfactory solution of the problem, how the books and the religion taught
in them came to be received; but it is impossible to explain the
fact upon any other hypothesis. If those who lived in that age, were
convinced of the truthfulness of the apostles, it is not surprising that
they should embrace the system of religion which they taught. But, '
if they were not thus convinced, how were they persuaded ? Let the
Infidel answer. Will he assert, that on a certain occasion, a set of
men became Christians, no man can tell why, and laid their heads
together to palm an imposition on the world ? This reminds us of the
Indian supposition that the earth rests upon an elephant, and the ele-
phant stands upon a tortoise, but what the tortoise stands upon we are
left to conjecture. The witnesses, says the Infidel, were Christians,
therefore their testimony is not to be relied upon ; but, pray, what
made them Christians?
Let us now enquire into the characters and circumstances of those
men who testify of Jesus Christ. In a court of law, the weight of
testimony is judged by the character and circumstances of those who
depose it. The judge, or the jury, as the ease may be» examine. the
testimony itself; they enquire whether the unerring signs of veracity
are apparent in it; whether there is that honest consistency in its dif*
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m GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
ferent parts which are die sure marks of truth. They squire ialo
tfie moral character of the witnesses, whether their moral conduct is
such as affords a pledge that their sincerity may be relied upon;
whether they were in a situation to know the real truth ; whether their
temporal interests, their previous prejudices and habits, throw any
light upon the motives by which they are governed in. their testimony.
Let us apply these tests to the witnesses in the present case. We
have twelve separate witnesses; nay, we have three more, Mark,
Luke and Paul, making fifteen witnesses. Of these, eight composed
and published writings, which were read and examined by their con-
temporaries, both friends and foes, in every part of the Roman world,
and far beyond the bounds of that empire ; and, in the testimony
they give, they all agree, especially to that great hctt that Jesus Christ
rosct from the dead.
p In respect to their knowledge of the facts, they are competent wit-
nesses. During the period of die public ministry of Jesus Christ,
his conduct and acts were open to the inspection of aU, for he taught
openly throughout aH ^e region of Judea, and in secret he did no-
thing. Besides the multitude of the witnesses of his acts, and the
disciples who followed him, among whom, in all probability, were
Mark and Luke, the twelve aposdes were specially chosen to be ail-
ways with him ; and from his words and actions, as they were heard
and seen by themselves, they decided concerning his claims to be the
Messiah. They were associated with him in priyate, and in public ;
wherever he went they went, and so constanUy were they required to
attend upon him, that he was not to be left, even in order that a son
might go tod bury his father. If it be disputed that Blark and Luke
were among the number of the seventy disciples, there can be no dis-
pute that they were associated with the aposdes, and that the one was
upon terms of intimacy with Peter, and that the other accompanied
Paul in his joumeyings, so that diey must have had access to the best
sources of information, viz : the aposdes themselves. Paul, although
at the beginning a persecutor, and not one of those who witnessed
the acts of Jesus during his public ministry, testifies that he also had
seen Jesus, and when on his way to Damascus.
These men, therefore, are competent witnesses, for with the excep>
tion of Paul (and perhaps of Mark and Luke,) they are the persons
styled by the imperial apostate the * abjects^^ who accompanied Jesus
all the time he went in and out among them, beginning at the baptism
of John, until the day in which he was taken up from them, lliere-
fore, our enemies themselves being judges, their qualification and AU
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THE PPSW TESTAMENT SCRIPTaRES. I8g
I for inch an office elerates Ihem to the highest ipank as witnesses*
As Luke affirms of himself, they had fr6m the first, perfect under-
standing of all things that were most surety believed amongst Christ-
ians. John, who wrote one of the narratives, certainly knew that he
had familiarly conversed with Jesus of Nazareth ; that he had seen
him raise the dead, heal the sick, and cast out devils ; that he saw
him fall into the hands of his enemies ; that he witnessed his cruci*
fixiom He certainly knew that he saw him wounded in die side with
a spear, and that he saw the effusion of blood and water, concerning
which, being so material a circumstance, he adds : « He that saw it
bearai record, and he-knoweth that be saith true," that is, that was a
case in which he could not possibly be deceived. He certainly knew
that he saw Jesus after his resurrection, and that he handled his body
that he might be certain it was not a mere phantom. All these things
he must Have known ; and he himself says : *' That which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled of the word of liib."
If Plato be considered a competent witness of the life of Socrates,
his master^ with whom he ^as familiarly conversant; Dr. Boswell of
that of his friend, <the great moralist, Johnson; colonel Eaton of that
of his friend, general Andrew Jackson, surely it must be admitted,
that the evangelists w^re competent witnesses of the life and actions
of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
These witnesses were not enthusiasts or fanatics. Such, persons
labor under the influence of a blind credulity, in consequence of
which, the^ imagine themselves the peculiar favorites of Heaven;
their religious systems abound in disorder and contradiction; their
expressions are obscure and absurd, and they require implicit cre-
dence OQ grounds vain and delusive. But such characteristics cannot'
be discpvered in the writings of the apostles and evangelists. . Their
iiuth in Christ ^as the result of rational conviction, not upon internal
persuasion alone, but in the irrefragable evidence of clear and stupen*
dous miracles, addressed to their senses. They do not, like enthu-
siasts, act from the dfctates of passion and imagination. Theiir
reader? are not required to believe, because they believe; but to
confirm the truth of their mission and their doctrine, they appeal to
facts, arguments, and miracles. These convinced their contemp6ra-
riesi and they produce the same . efiect at the present day. Their
discourses on morals and religion then were, and now are, the most
noble, rational, and satisfactory ever witnessed by mankind. The
utmost harmony exists through every part of die religious s3rBtem
2N . ^ 2
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134 GENUINENESS ANP CREDIBILITT OF
they incalcate. It is true there are some seeming discrepanciee in
some of the collateral circumstances related by them, a proof that
they did not copy from each other } bjit in all essential and important
matters they entirely agree, and their histories and doctrines are per-
fectly aceordant. * The epistles, though written at different timen, in
distant countries, and addressed to various communities and individu-
als, nev^ contradict each other, but without the exception of a soli-
tary expression, they all exhibit the utmost harmony and unity of de-
sign. While they inculcate sincere, fefrvent, and heartrfelt piety to
God, thay at the same time enjoin the strictest equity to men, and
the most active and diffusive benevolence. While they place pen
culiar stress upon internal purity and sincerity, every civil relation,
and social duty is taught in the clearest manner and enforced in the
strongest language^-
Therefore, it is morally impossible that these men could Have been
enthusiasts or fanatics. Independently of all other considerations
which have been adduced, this is evident from their style alone.
The style of fanatics is always arrogsbit and violent, but that of the
sacred writers is stamped with sob^mes^u impartiality and s^lf pos-
session ; and it is worthy of special remark, tliat (here is not one note
of exclamation throughout the whole history, which is the more
striking when we consider how extraordinary and heart-rending was
their theme. The following beautiful illustration of their calmness
and self-possession is given by Oaussen, ** Could you find upon
earth," says he, <' a man capable of relating the assassination of his
mother, with the calmness, the sobriety, the self-possession which
distinguish that four-fold history of the evangelists, relating the pun-
ishment of that Jesus whom they loved more than any mother is
loved, more than life is loved ; of that Jesus whom they adored, of
that Jesus whom they had seen proi^te in Gethsemane, then be-
trayed, forsaken, led to Jerusalem with his hands bound, and finally
nailed and naked upon the cross, while the sun withdrew his light,
while the earth was rent, and while he who was raising the dead
was himself reduced to the state of the dead?'* This indicates more
than freedom from (ahaticism — supernatural direction. • *
These witnesses were men of sound mind, and their testimony
related to- facts requiring nothing more than that their i|iinds should
be sane and honestly used. The events to which they testify did
not happen in a distant region, or before their birth, and concerning
which they might have received false information ; but the facts they
related, they themselves had witnessed. They saw diseases healed,
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 186
the dumb made to speak, the power of hearing given to the deaf, the
lame made to walk, the maimed, or those who wanted a Innb, made
whole or perftcty and the dead raised to life. The nature, the num*
her and flie publicity of the wonderful events witnesihed by them,
wholly preclude the possibility of their having labored under a men-
tal delusion. But to argue this'point further is unnecessary, for the
man who could read their writings,- and infer from them that these
witnesses wanted common senate, would thereby prove that he him-
self is destitute oC it.
They relate the events at the spot where they occurred, and before
the multitudes who witnessed them. What happened at Jerusalem
they relate there, and the Events which they represent as having oc-
curred are of the most public character, referring to a person whose
fame had filled (he country, and involving a charge against the rulers
of the nation. All this they dq in the presence of the very multitude
before whose eyes they took place. Thus, Peter, on the day of Pen-
tecost, addressed the vast multitude then assembled* in the following
language : <*Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and
signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves
also know; Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-
knowledge of God, ye have taken, ami by mcked hands have cruet'
fied and ^2am. 'Whom God hath raised up,, having loosed the pains
of death : because it was not possible that he should be holden of
it" * Again, the same apostle says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem :
'^The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and' of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus ; whom ye delivered up, and de-
nied him in the pvesence of Pilate, when he was determined to let
him go. But ye denied the Holy One,.apd the Just, and desired a
murderer to be granted unto you ; and killed the Prince of life, whom
God hath raised from the dead ; whereof we are witnesses:" t Nay,
to their faces they charged the judges who had condemned Jesus,
with being his murderers. '< And Annas the high priest, and Caia-
phas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred
of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when
they had set them (Peter ahd John) in the midst, they asked, By what
power, or by what name have y.e done this ? Then Peter, filled with
the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders
of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed ^one to Uie
\ ■
• Actf il SI— 2S. tIb.iiL18— U.
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136 PENUINENESS.AND CREDIBILITY OP
impotent man, by what means he is made whole ; be it known unto
you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jeauf
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified^ whom God raised from the
dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole."*
sntly, and at all times, with the most
esence of their enemies,
ese witnesses were men of sterling
, and- good faith shine most conspio-
timony.' They wrote, not to obtain
for the further spread of the Gospel,
iparation of events ; no artful transi-
ns on past actions or the authors of
ims; no digressions. They never
consider how this or that action may affect their owh reputations, or
appear before mankind* But they recount the facts with great sim*
ji^city, just as they happened, and wrthodt evincing the smallest 8oli«-
<$itude whether they will appear credible or not — the^ leave them to
speak for themselves and their great Author. If their readers will not
credit their testimon3r, there is no help for it — they tell the truth, the
whde truth, just as ^t happened. With the greatest honesty they re*
cord their own failings i^ iJOfi dullness of their apprehensions ; their un-
belief; their emulatiious ; their disputes ; the rebukes they brought upon
themselves ; their disgraceful flight and cowardice ; the treachery of one
of theif own number, and the denial of his Master by another. The
honesty and sterling integrity ojf Peter is worthy of special remark,
exhibited in the aggravated circumstance of the cock crowing tlirice,
before he was brought to a proper «ense of the 'crime he had commit-
ted in denying his Lord, and which was recorded by Mark under the
eye of the penitent apostle. ^
Their integrity further appears from thei)r freely stating circumstan-
ces concerning their Master by no means calculated to enhance his
glory, but to expose him to the contempt of prejudiced and incon-
siderate men. They do not. conceal the fact that his country was
considered infamous; that the circumstances of his parents were
low ; that his birth and education were tnean, and his life indigent ;
that when he appeared in his public ministry, his fellow-townsmen
and his kipdred despised and rejected him ; that he was accused
of sabbath-breaking, blasphemy, and sedition ; that the rulers, the
scribes, and the pharisees disowned his pretensions and opposed him
■ ■ ■ .1 ' ■ I
* Acta iv. e— 10.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 137
continually; and that at last, hj the united rage of the rulers and the
people, he was publicly executed as the vilest of malefactors, with all
imaginary circumstances of ignominy, scorn and abhorrence. Nor
yet do they attempt to conceal the a
into which he was thrown by his si
heathens took the greatest offence ; ac
present day object, as conduct whi<
claimed to be the Son of God. Had tl
events, they never could have been ki
consequently could not have taken a
they have related with their minutefi
proves their sterling integrity. Had 1
have labored to present their hero in
would have been careful to have sta
appeared disrespectful to him ; or, at
some cause, in order to prevent any ii
h^ve arisen from what tl^ey narrated.
Their treatment of their enemies is another striking mark of their
integrity. With the exception of Caiaphas, Annas, Pilate and the
treacherous Judas, they mention the names of none of those who
were concerned in tlie persecution and crueifi:iion of their Master (the
mention of their names was indispensably necessary,) and of them
they speak without resentment. In a word, the more closely their
writings are examined the more clearly doe^ tl^e integrity of these
witnesses appear.
It is evident from their writings that th6y were persons of great be-
nevolence. Especially does this appear in their epistles, where we
should most reasonably expect to 'iiqd developments of their charac-
ters. These are sometimes adidressed to particular and intimate
friends, to whom the mind naturally opens itself with the greatest
• freedom. And it cannot be supposed that the traced of genuine and
di£[usive benevolence exhibited in their writings are counterfeit, for
good men are consistent in virtue, as bad men are in vice ; and the
base hypocrisy which would have ipfluenced them to forge a lie,
would have appeared in pride, covetousness, ambition, sensuality, the
love of dominion and selfishness. This brand Providence always
puts upon imposture ; but unblemished innocence is the seal of truUi,
and this stamps our sacred books.
That men of such characters would have basely and knowingly im-
posed upon mankind is a moral impossibility. If, however, the testi-
mony of these men be false, as has been alr^y shown, they could
2n2 2
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188 GENUINBNE88 AND CREDIBILITY OF
not liaTe been mistaken in the evidence they gave» but knowinglj and
willfully they were fialae witnesses for Grod, and a false testimony diey
gave, not in one instance only, but in a thousand. Nay, their whole
as of perjury. Moreover, upon
s monstrous beyond description, .
aportant interests, and persuaded
»s on the .fidelity of one whom
10 had justly suffered the penalty
dug as is the thought, if these
they were die most abandoned
nature, and they deserve the ex-
down to the latest generations,
sd them to act a part so. base ajid
ey knew to be a falsehood, they,
of guilt but of folly. Thereby^
he destruction' of thousands, And .
proselytes from tl^eir own time
' down to the prjesent day on account of Christianity is fully charge-
able to them. At their door lies the blood of thousands, and tens of
thousands of honest and worthy persons, who, had it not been for
them, would have been great blessings to society ; and all this they
did with their eyes open, for they themselves declared to their pnose-
l3rtes that their reward in this life would be persecutions, imprison-
ment, and death.
They could have expected neither gain nor reputatioh by the testi-
mony they gave, but to be treated as the off-scourings of all things ;
and they must have foreseen that infamy and ruin would be the inev-
itable consequence of their imposture. For, the foundation of their
scheme was, that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified at Jerusalem,
by the Jewish rulers, was the So^ of God; thereby they charged
upon the highest court of their own country a most cruel and aggra-
vated murder. In a word, they charged upon them the most enor-
mous act of wickedness ever committed lender the sun. When they
brought this charge they could not but be assured that, the rulers of
Israel would exert all their po\ir.er and influence to confute their testi-
mony, and to bring them to condign punishment. Accordingly, they
were villified as the most contemptible miscreants that ever lived, and
shortly after they began to give their testimony one of them was
stoned to death, another was beheaded, and most of the rest were
scattered abroad into strange cities, where they were received with
the greatest prejudice by their countrymen, and they and their pro*
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SGSIPTUBEa 139
selytes were hated, reviled^ persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death
by the heathens, as disturbers of society, and the enemies of the gods.
But in defiance of all obstacles, and oppositions, they persevered in
giving their testimony, and sealed its truth with their blood. Provid*
ed they were false witnesses, upon what principle can Iheir conduct
be accounted for ? Let the In^del answer. If in defiance of all the
rules of evidence, he still maintain that these men testified to a lie, he
only shiAs the difficulty. For then a fedr Dliterate fishermen, a tax-
gatherer, and a tent-maker, belonging to a people by all the world
deemed infamous, entered into a conspiracy to deceive the nations of
the earth ; and to secure the success of their imposture, they not only
bound themselves to secrecy, uid to the sacrifice of their lives ; but
without a solitary exception, to the very last, they remained true to
their diabolical compact And more wonderful still, their crusade
against mankind was attended with the most triumphant success. For
by the simple act of proclaiming a dead Jew., as the Loril of the uni-
verse^ in the most enlightened age of antiquity, they dethroned the
ancient heathen deities, to whom a blind adoration bad been paid for
many ages ; subverted all the then existing institutions of the civil-
ized world ; introduced universally new modes of thinking and acting ;
placed their proselytes on the throne of the Gesars ; and mote won-
derful than all, blessed mankind with a code of morals having upon
it the stamp of divinity, and in every age of the world, the object of
the wonder and admiration of all good men. This implies a miracle in-
finitely.more stupendous than all that are recorded in the sacred Scrip-
tures, for the Infidel'himself must acknowledge, that it is in the power
of God to raise the dead ; but that such effects should proceed from
such a cause is a moral impossibility.
Nothing is more evidept than that if the testimony of these men
had been false, they must have perished miserably, and their foolish
cause must have died with themj without receiving the smallest cred-
it. . And every person of common sense must perceive that men of
such excellent characters could ndt in the face of persecution and
death, and before an enraged world, have persisted in proclaiming
a falsehood, when they bad only to. hold their' peace in order to en-
joy tranquillity like other men. Therefore their conduct ckn only be
accounted for on the supposition that they bore witness to the truth.
So that this branch of the argument cannot be better closed than in
the words of J)ryden, . whi(ih are so applicable to ihem, in connec-
tion with the writers of the Old Testament Scriptures^-
« Vfhmob but from hea^oi could mto unskUl'd in aits,
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140 GENUINENESS AND CKEDIBILITT OF
In MTeral ages bom, in serenl parts,
Weave sqchagieonf troths 1. Or how, or why
Should, all conspire to cheat us with' a lie 1
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice.
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price."
SECTION I.-
The credibility, and truth of the facts and events related by the
writers of the New Testament are verified in the most iUnstrions
manner by civil history. The books were Written, and the fects nar-
rated in thera were transacted doring the reigns of Augustas, Tibe-
rius, and the immediately sncce^ing Gesars Dr. Lardtier, with
great exactness^ and at the expense of much labor 9jid research, has
collected from proper authorities, a great variety of important testi*
monies to the truth of the New Testament, which are contained in
^e first part of his Credibility of the Gospel History, and also ip
his Jewish and Heathen Testimonies. We will now present to the
reader in an abridged form a few out of the many particulars con-
tained in his elaborate work.
St Matthew assures us that << Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of
Judea, in the days of Herod the king," Matt« ii. ; whom St. Luke
styles expressly «< the king of Judea ;" Luke i. 5. Herod was the
son of Antipater, who had enjoyed considerable' posts of honor and *
trust under Alexander J*ann8eus, and Alexandra his wife, and successor
in the civil government of Judea, and their eldest son Hyrcanus, who
was high priest in his mother's lifetime, and afler her death, had the
' civil power also united in him.
Nicholas, of Damascus, says that Antipater. was descended from
one of the chief of the* Jewish families that returned into Judea from
Babylon. But Josephus makes no scruple to declare, that Nicholas
said this only to flatter Herod, who came to be king of Judea ; and
that in truth he was -an Idum^an. **
He died bf a very painful and loathsome distemper ; insomuch that,
as Josephus says, << Some then pronounced it ,be a judgment of God
upon him for his many impieties."
St. Matthew informs us, that Joseph, having been sometime in
Egjrpt, by divine direction, <* arose, and took the yaang child, and his
mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that
2
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 141
Arcfaelaus did reign in Jadea, id the room of his father Herod, he waf
mfraid to go thither ; notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream,
ho tamed aside into the parts of Galilee."*
' By which words it is implied, not only that Archelaqs succeeded
fi^rod in Judea, properly so called ; bat also that his power did not
reach over all the land of Israel, and particularly not to Gralilee.
Josephus has informed us, that Herod, usually called the Great, by
hi^ last will and testament, which he made a little before his death,
appointed Archelaus his successor in Judea, with the title of king;
and .assigned the rest of ^is ^dominions to Herod Antipas, and Philip,
ei|:cepting only some small part, which he gave to his sister Salome.
However, the disposal of all was left to the determination of Augus-
tus. Tjiis will, the emperor ratified, as to the midn parts of it. Arche-
laus was decreed sucftcessor to his father in Judea, akd Idumea, with
the tide of ethnarch; but l^as not to have the title of king, till he
should do* somewhat to d^lserve it. Herod Antipas was appointed
tetrarch of Qalile^ and Persa; and Philip, of Trachonitis, ^md the
neighboring countries. < '^
If Joseph returned out: of Egypt immediately after ^ death ofi
Herod, no one will except against the fropriety of the expression
here made use of, that Arphelaus reigned ; for his father had in hi^
last will appointed him his successor with the*title of king. If this
fetam out of Egypt be supposed not to have happened, till after the
decree of Augustus was passed, by which Archelaus was forbid as y^
to use the style of king; yet no just exception will lie against St.
Matthew's phrase. For Josephus himself, who has given us an ao-
count, of tliis limitation, calls* Archelaus the king thaCt succeeded
Herod. He has used> the verb, reigning, concerning the duration of
his government \ and what in one place he calls a tetrarchy, in an-
other, he calls a kingdom.
Luke t says, that when " the word of God came to John, in the
fifteenth year of Tiberius, ^erod was tet^aoh of Galilee, and his bro-
ther Philip tetrarch qTIturea, and the region of Trachonitis." That
is, they were then in possession of the same territories and titles,
which Were assigned' them by their father's Fast will, and Augustus'
decree. And it was the same Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, to whom
our Saviour was sent by Pilate, when he was accused before him.
That Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis, in the fifteenth year of
Tiberius, we are assured by Josephus, who says,r that ** Philip the
' ^'- — -
* Matt iL 21, 28. f Luke ill 1. i Md. xxiii. 67.
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143 GENUINEN1B8S AND CREDIBUJTt OF
brother of HeroA died in the twentieth year of Tiberias, when he
' had governed TrachooitiB, and Batanea; and Gaulanitis, thirty-seren
years." ** And Herod continued tefrach of Galiliee, till he was re*
moyed by Caligola, the successor of Tiberius.'*
I Of this Herod some other things are related, namely, his marrying
Herodias, and beheading John the Baptist These are n^tioned
by several of the evangelists, Matt xiv. 1 — 13 ; Mark iv. 14 — 29,
Luke iii. 19, 20. Mark's account is : <« For Herod had sent forth, and
laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison, for Herodias' sake, his
brother Philip's wife : for he had married her. For ^ohn said* unto
Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife ; therefore
Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but
she could not For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just
man and an holy, and observed him. And when a convenient day
was come, that Herod on his birth-day made a supper tb his lords,
high captains, and chief estates of Galilee ; and when the daughter
of the said Hero^i^ came in and danced, and' pleased Herod, and
them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel. Ask qf me
whatever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And.he swore unto her.
Whatsoever thou wilt ask of me I will give it thee, unto the half of
my kingdom." *
This unlawful marriage is recorded in Josephus : " About this time
there happened a difference between Aretas, king of Petrsa, and Her-
od upon this occasion. Herod the tetrach had married the daughter
of Aretas, and lived a considerable time with her. But in a journey
he took to Rome, he inade a visit to Herod, his brother, though not
by the same mothbr, for' Herod was bom of Simon the high-priest's
daughter. Hero falling *in love with Herodias, the wife of the said
Herod, daughter of their brother Aristobulus, and sister of Agrippa
the Groat, he ventured to make her proposals of marriage^ She not
dislilqing them, they agreed together ai this time, that when he was
returned from Rome, she should go and liVe with him* And it was
one part of their contract, that Arotas' daughter should be put
away.'*
Josephus speaks again of this marriage in anotfier place, from
which it appears that Herodias had a daughter by her first husband*
She is generally supposed to be the person, whose dancing so much
entertained Herod, the tetrarch. Giving an account of Herod's child-
ren and grand-childron, he says : «< Herodias was married to Herod,
• Maik ri. 17— S3.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCBIPTUBEa 143
son of Herod the Great, by Mariasane, daughter of Simon the high*
priest They had a daughter whote name was Salome, after whose
birth, Herodias, in utter violation of the lawa of her country, left her
husband,' then living, and married Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, her
husband's brother by the father's side."
The daughter of the said Herodias, having received from Herod a
solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, that hi would give her *< what-
soever she should ask of him,V and she having withdrawn and advis-
ed iHth her mother,* " came with haste unto the king; and asked, say*
ing, I will that thou give me by and by, in a charger, the' head of
John the Baptist." And immediately the king sent an executioner,
and commanded his head to be brought : and he went and beheaded
him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to
the damsel, a^d the damsel gave it to her mpther.
At the time of this event, it was common for princes to requure the
heads of Eminent persons, whom they ordered for execution, to be
•brought to them, especially when there was any particular resent-
ment.
We have an instance in Josephus, which follows the story of this
marriage. Aretas was extremely provoked at the treatment of his
daughter, and at length a war broke out betwixt hint and Herod. A
battle was fought, and Herod's troops were defeated. « Herod sent
an account of this to Tiberius ; and he resenting the attempt of Are-
tas, wrote to Vitellius (b declare war against him, with orders, that
if he were taken prisoner he should bd brought to him in chains, and
that if he were slain his head should be brought to him."
Agrippina, then wife of Claudius, and mother of Nero, who was*
afterwards emperor, sent an officer to put to d^th Lollia Paulina,
who had beenr her rival for the imperial dignity. And Dio Cassius
says, ** that when Lollia's head was brought to her, not knowing it at
first, she examined it ^ith her own hands, till she perceived some
particular feature, by which that lady was distinguished^"
Josephus has represented Herodias as a woman full of ambition
and envy, as having a puighty influence on Herod, and able to per-
suade him to. things he was not of himself at all inclined to. It is on
occasion of the emperor Caligula's advancing her own brother to the
government of the countries that had belonged to their uncle Philip ;
and that not with the old tide of tetrarch, which he had. But with the
more honorable character of king. Upon this, " Herodias, sister of
♦ Mark il »6, 27, 28.
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144 GENUINENESS AND GR^DQIILITT OF
Agrippa, wife of Herod, tetraich of Galilee aad Pema, envied hm
brother's power, when she saw him in a more honorable station tkaa
her husband." The historian proceeds to relate, that she persuaded
ber husband to go into Italy, that he might obtain the same tide. *^ He
was averse at first; however at length she prevailed upon him to un-
dertake the journey. But the emperor was so far from granting his
petition, that upon some information he received c<Hiceming him, ho
took away from him the^ tetfarchy of Galileei and gave it to Agrip-
pa, the brother of Herodias, who had been the object of her envy ;
and moreover banished Herod to Lyons, in Gaul, whither this wife of
his also followed him.*^ Josephus concludes his account with this re*
flection ; *< This punishment did God inflict on Herodias for envying
her brother, and on Herod for following the vain councils of a wo-
man."
St Luke hiua given us a ^^ery remarkable history. " Now about
that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to vex certain
of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the*
sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded
ferther to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened
bread."* •
St Luke calls this person Herod, by the family name ; Josephus
ealls him Agrippa. He was grandson of Herod the €rreat His
ftther was Aristobulus, Herod's son. by Mariamne, grand-daughter
of Hyrcanus ; and is the same person who has been already- mention-
ed as brpther of Herodias.. Sc Luke gives him the tide of king, and
relates several acts of itov^reign, authority done by him. He dop8 not
say expressly, that t^iey were done by him at Jerusalem ; but there
are divers particulifirs in the relation, which plainly determine that to
be the scene of action. Por St Luke observes, that when he took
Peter, << then were the days of unleavened bread; and that he intend-
ed, after Easter, to bring hiin forth to the people.*^ And that when
.Peter was out of prison, «*and was come to himself, he qaid, (ver. 11.)
Now I know pf a surety, that the Lord has delivered me out* of the
hand of Herod, ^ and from all the expectation of the people of the
Jews. And when he had commanded the keepers to be put to death*
(ver. 19.) he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and there abode."
A passage or two from Josephus will confirm the representation St
Luke gives *of Herod's being king, and that of Judea.
It was by several steps that he was advanced to this digniQr. Wb
a "
• At:ta xiL 1—3.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. US
first preferment was from Caligula, A. D. 37. *' And sending for him
to his palace, he (Caligula) put a crown upon his head, and appomted
him king of the tetrarchy of Philip, intending also to giv^ him the
tetrarchy of Lysaniaa."
His next preferment was the addition, made by the same emperor,
of the tetrarchy of Galilee, which had been mentioned already. The
last was what follows : ** Claudius by a decree confirmed to Agrippa
&e dominion which Caius (Caligula) had given him: adding also
Judea, and Samaria, in the utmost extent, as possessed by his grand*
&ther Herod. This he restored, as due to him by right of consan-
guinity; and moreover, added of his own, Abila, which had been Ly-
sanias's, together with the country in mount Libanus."
Josephus therefore confirms the representation which St Luke has
given of Herod's sovereign power in Judea. This is worthy of our
particular notice, because his three years* reign in Judea, the last of
his life, was the only time in which Judea, properly so called, was
not a Roman province, from the banishment of Archelaus, in the sixth
or seventh year of the Christian era, to the year 66, when they re-
volted from the Romans.
St Luke says, that having ** killed James the brother of John with
like sword ; because he saw it pleased the Jetos, he proceeded farther,
to take Peter also." That it is very likely he should be moved by
such a consideration as this, is evident from the character which Jo-
sephus has given of him. " Herod the Great, his grandfather," he
says, *« was continually obliging foreign states and cities by large
bounties, but did very few things to gratify the Jews ; whereasT
Agrippa was of a mild and gentle disposition, and good to all men ;
he was beneficent to strangers, but especially kind to the Jews his
eountr}'men, and sympathized with them in all their troubles. For
which reason also, he lived much at Jerusalem, observed. the Jewish
institutions, practised the putity they require, and did not let a day
pasq without worshiping God according to the law." Thus his zeal
for the institutions and customs of the Jews, and his desire to oblige
tiiat people, very much confirm the account St. Luke gives of his for-
wardness in persecuting the disciples of Jesus.
What St. Luke adds concerning this person is a very extraordinary
relation, and Josephus concurs with him in it <* And he went down
Irom Judea to Csesarea, and th^re abode and upon a set day,
Herod,' arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an
oration to them. And the people gave a shout, saying: It Is the
voice of a god and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the
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149 GEinJINENSSS AND CREDIBILITT OF
Lord smote him, because he gave not Qod the glory; and hs was eal-
en of worms, and gave up the ghost'**
Josephus's words are these : «* Having now reigned throe whole
years over all Judea, he went to the city of Cssarea, formerly called
Straton's tower. Here he celebrated shows in honor of Cesar, a
festival having been appointed to be observed there at this time for his
•afety. On this occasion there was a vast resort of persons of rank
and distinction from all parts of the country. On the secpnd day of
the shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a
robe of silver of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising
sun, reflected from so spendid a garb, gave him a majestic and awfiil
appearance. In a short time they began in several parts of the theatre
flattering acclamations, which proved pernicious to him. They called
him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them, sayings
* Hitherto we have respected you as a man ; but now we acknow*
ledge you to be more than mortal.' The king neither reproved these
persons, nor rejected the impious flattery. Soon aAer this, casting
his eyes upward, he saw an owl setting upon a certain cord over his
head. He perceived it to be a messenger of evil to him, as it had
been before of his prosperity, and was struck with the deepest con-
cern. Immediately after this, he was seized with pains in his bowels,
extremely violent at the very first Then turning himself to his
friends, he spake to them in this manner : * I, your god, am required
to leave this world ; fate instantly confuting those false applauses just
bestowed upon me ; I, who have been called immortal, am hurried
away to death. But God's appointment must be submitted to. Nor
1^ our condition in this world been despicable ; we have lived in the
state which is accounted happy.' While he was speaking these
words, he was oppressed with the increase of his pains. He was
carried therefore with all haste to his palace. These pains in his
bowels continually tormenting him, he expired in five days' time, in
the fifty-fourth year of his age, and of his reign the seventh."
It is needless to make many reflections here. The reader's thoughts
cannot but carry him to many points of agreement in these two rela-
tions. They agree, that this event happened ^t Cssarea ; St Luke
-says it was upon a set day ; Josephus, that it was upon the second
day of the shows celebrated in honor of the emperor. The magnifi*
cence of Herod's dress is hinted at by St Luke, and particnlariy de-
scribed by Josephus. The flattery is exactly the same in both. But
* Aeti ziL 19, Sl-^tt.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTIJREa 14T
in two things, above all others, is the harmony of these accounts
observable. First, the temper of mind with which Herod received
this flattery. St Luke say^, ** he gave not God the glory ;'' Jos&-
phus, ** he neither reproved those persons nor rejected the impious
flattery ;" words that deserve particular notice in Josephus, because
he had at times represented this Herod Agrippa as an extraordinary
person^ and free from the vices of his grandfather Herod ; and indeed
has mideavored to raise his character for lenity and goodness, beyond
what is consistent with some other accounts. For Dio Cassius says,
Agrippa was reckoned one of Caligula's advisers in his cruel and
tyrannical measures.
Another thing in which this harmony is very considerable, is that
according to St. Luke, «« immediately the angel of the Lord smote
him ;" and Josephus assures us that these pains seized him in the
theatre, before all the assembly, and that he apprehended a fatal neces*
sity of speedily leaving this, world. And when Josephus says, " these
flattering acclamations proved pernicious to Agrippa," he plainly inti-
mates, that his death was supposed to be a punishment for the appro-
bation with which he received them.
Josephus informs us that Herod Agrippa left « behind him one son
named Agrippa, then seventeen years of age, and three daughters ;
Bemice, who- was married to Herod, her father's brother, being six-
teen years of age ; Mariamne and Drusilla, who were unmarried.
The former was ten years old, and Drusilla six. Drusilla was con-
tracted to Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, king of Commagene,
From the 23d and two following chapters of the Acts of the
apostles, we learn that Felix was governor in Judea, and that Porcius
Festus succeeded him ; the truth of which is particularly attested by
Josephus in divers parts of his history.
Concerning Felix, St. Luke has mentioned divers things beside, his
being governor, that well deserve our consideration. Whilst St. Paul
was at Caesarea, St. Luke says, ** and after certain days, when Felix
eame with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul,
and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.'* Acts xxiv. 24. This
Drusilla is the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa, as was shown
just now. We have this account in Josephus, of her marriage with
Felix.
** Agrippa having received this present from Cesar (via. Claudius,)
gave his sister in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, when
he had consented to be circumcised. For Epiphanes, the son of
king Antiochils, had broke the contract with her, by refusing to em-
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148 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
brace the Jewish customs, although he had promised her father he
would. But this marriage of DrusiUa with Azizus was dissolved in
a short time, after this mamier. When Felix was procurator of Jn*
dea, having had a sight of her, he was mightily taken with her ; and
indeed she was the most beautiful of her sex. He therefore sent to
her SimoQ, a Jew of Cyprus, who was one of his friends, and pre-
tended to magic ; by whom he persuaded her to leave her husband, and
marry him ; promising to make her perfectly happy, if she did not
disdain him. It was far from being a sufficient reason ; but to avoid
the envy of her sister Bemice, who was continually doing her ill offi«
ces, because of her beauty, she was induced to transgress the laws
of her country and marry Felix."
Tacitus says, that whilst Felix wad procurator of Judea, ** he act-
ed in a very arbitrary manner, and scrupled not at every kind of injus-
tice." Josephus has recorded one instance of abominable villainy he
was guilty of. <* Jonathan the high priest often admonished Felix to
correct his administration ; for that otherwise he himself was in danger
of the ill-will of the people, since he had desired the emperor to make
him procurator of Judea. But he not being able to bear these fre*i
quent remonstrances, by a large sum of money corrupted an intimate
friend of Jonathan's, who got him to be assassinated." His govern-
ment was so irregular, that the Jews followed him with complaints to
Rome after he had left the province ; and it was owing to very pow<»
erful interest macle for him at court, that he escaped the resentment
of Nero.
All these above mentioned particulars from Josephus and Taci-
tus, may satisfy us, that when. Acts xxiv. 25, ** Paul reasoned of
righteousness, temperance (or chastity,) and judgment to come," his
subjects were well chosen with respect to both his hearers ; and that
what St. Luke adds concerning Felix, that he, ver. 26, *' hoped that
money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him,"
is no calumny.
Some, indeed, may think it strange, that Felix should hav£ had
any hopes of receiving money from this prisoner, when it does not
appear h^ had any estate ; and he has intimated, that he was at times
obliged to <* labor, working with his hands " for a subsistence, 1 Chr.
iv. 12 ; Acts xx. 34. But in answer to this, it has been observed by
expositors, that Paul had told Felix, that "after many years" "he
came to bring alms to iiis nation and offerings," Acts xxiv. 17. It is
likely, therefore, that Felix imagined that the money had not been all
distributed as yet, since Paul was apprehended within a few days after
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUKEa 149
his coming to JeniBalem, ch. zxi. 27 ; xxiv. 11 ; or, at least, condud-*
ed he most needs be a person of some consequence, and have good
friends.
Of Pontius Pilate, Dr. Lardner gives a mimber of notices by pro-
fane authors; we present the following: Philo, (a celebrated Jew-
ish writer of Alexandria, who was cotemporary with the apostles) has
given a long representation of Pilate's goyemment, in the complaints
which the Jews made to Pilate, upon his dedicating shields at Jerusa*
lem. They tell him, "It was not the will of Tiberius, that any of
their laws and customs should be violated : and Pilate was afraid that
if they should send an embassy to Rome, they would discover to the
emperor the many crimes of his administration, his taking of bribes,
his extortions, his murder of innocent and uncondemned persons,
and other cruelties." Here are the tokens of civil power, but much
abused.
Treating of the motives which influenced Pilate to yield to the de-
mands of the Jews, that Jesus should be crucified, Dr. Lardner says,
<< The evangelists are unanimous in the account, that this senteneo
was pronounced only < to content the Jews ; ' that is, either to secure
the peace of the province, or to maintain his interest with the people,
when he saw that nothing could satisfy or appease their rage but the
death of Jesus. « When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothmg,
but rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent from the blood of this just
person ; see ye to it. Then answered all the people and said. His
blood be on us, and on our children. Matt, xxvii. 24, 25 ; Luke,
xxiii. 24, 25; John, xix. 14 — 16.'
It will seem strange to some, that a Roman governor should have
any inducements to comply with the demands of people, contrary to
his own judgment and inclination. But he that considers the ao-
coimt we have of the principles and behavior of the Jewish nation
at this time will be satisfied the evangelists have given a just and true
representation of this transaction ; and will be convinced, that a Ro-
man governor, with all his authority, could not pass by any thing
which they apprehended to be a breach on their religious constitution
without hazarding the peace of his province. All this will not jufh
tify an unrighteous sentence ; but that this was the case is plain.
We have seen that the high-priests pretended that Jesus had been
guilty of blasphemy, in < making himself the Son of God,' and thai
«by their law he ought to die,' John xix. 7. And Pilate had had
experience of their prodigious firmness asd zeal for all the parts of
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150 GBNTJINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OP
their religion. There are two particular proofs they gsve him of this,
related by Josephos; the one on occasion* of his placing the Roman
ensigns in Jerusalem ; the other upon his attempting to bring water
into the city with money taken out of the sacred treasury. The for-
mer is related by Josephus thus : < Pilate the prefect of Judea, send-
ing his army from Gssarea, and putting them into winter quarters at
Jerusalem, brought the carred images of Cesar, which are on the en-
signs, into the city, in violation of the Jewish laws, since our law for-
bids the making of any images. For which reason the former gover-
nors were wont to come into the city with ensigns destitute of those
ornaments. Pilate was the first who set up images in Jerusalem ;
and he did it privately, the army making their entry in the night
time. But as soon as the people knew it, they went in a vast body
to Gssarea, making earnest supplication for many days that the im-
ages might "be removed. He not granting their petition, thinking it
would be dishonorable to the emperor to do so, and they still persist-
ing in their request to him; on the sixth day, having privately ordered
his soldiers to their arms, he seated himself on his tribunal in the cir-
cus, near which he had placed his men, that they might be in readi-
ness. And when the Jews came to him thither with their petition,
his soldiers having, upon a signal given, surrounded them, he threaten-
ed them with immediate death if they did not give over their clamors,
and return home. They then threw themselves on the ground, and
offered their necks to the sword, and said, « they could die much
more easily than they could dare to do any thing contrary to the wis-
dom of their laws.' Pilate, surprised at their firmness in the observa-
tion of their laws, immediately gave orders for bringing back the im-
ages from Jerusalem to Cssarea.' *
We have another attempt of Pilate's of the same nature, men-
tioned in the letter which Agrippa the elder sent to Caligula, as this
letter is given us by Philo. In some particulars it has a great resem-
blance with the story Josephus has told, of Pilate's bringing the en-
signs faito Jerusalem, and in others it is very different from it ; which
has given occasion to some learned men to suppose, that Philo has
been mistaken. (Vide Basnage, Ann. P. E. A. 27, n. 6.) For my
own part, as I make no doubt but Josephus' account of the ensigns
is true ; so I think, that Philo also may be relied on for the truth of a
fact he has mentioned, as happening in his own time in Judea ; and,
consequendy, I judge them to be two different facts.
* Antiq. lib. zriii. c^ 4. tect I.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 151
Agrippa, reckoning np to Caligula the several favors conferred on
the Jews by the imperial family, says : <* Pilate was procurator of
Judea. He, not so much out of respect to Tiberius, as a malicious
intention to vex the people, dedicates gilt shields, and places them in
Herod's palace within the holy city. There was no figure upon them,
nor anything else which is forbidden, except an inscription, which ex-
pressed these two things, the name of the person who dedicated them,
and of him to whom they were dedicated. When the people per-
ceived what had been done, they desired this innovation of the shields
might be rectified, that their ancient customs, which had been preserv-
ed through so many ages, and had been hitherto untouched by kings
and emperors, might not now be violated. He refused their demands
with roughness, such was his temper, fierce and untractable. They
then cried out. Do not you raise a sedition yourself? Do not you dis-
turb the peace by your illegal practices ? It is not Tiberius' pleasuie,
that any of our laws should be broken in upon. If you have receiv-
ed any edict, or letter from the emperor to this purpose, produce it,
that we may leave you, and depute an embassy to him, and entreat
him to revoke his orders. This put him out of all temper ; for he
was afraid, that if they should send an embassy, they might discover
the many mal-administrations of his government. His extortions, his
unjust decrees, his inhuman cruelties. This reduced him to the ut-
most perplexity. On the one hand he was afraid to remove things
that had been once dedicated, and, was also unwilling to do a favor to
men that were his subjects ; and on the other hand, he knew very
well the inflexible severity of Tiberius. < The chief men of the na-
tion observing this, and perceiving that he repented of what he had
done, though he endeavored to conceal it, write a most humble and
submissive letter to Tiberius. It is needless to say, how he was pro-
voked, i^hen he. had read the account of Pilate's speeches and threat-
enings, the event showing it sufiiciently. For he soon sent a letter to
Pilate, reprimanding him for so audacious a proceeding, requiring al-
so that the shields should be removed. And accordingly they were
carried from the metropolis to Ceesarea, by the sea side, called Se-
baste, from your great grandfather, that they might be placed in the
temple there consecrated to him; and there they were repoeited.'
Philo de leg. ad. Cai. p. 1033, 1034." This explains what Pilate
understood by that threatening speech of the Jews, in John xix.
12, " If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's friend.'^ Pilate
having committed many abuses, though he might be satisfied the
acquitting of Jesus and setting him at liberty would not be deemed
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152 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
any crime, if the case was fairly stated ; yet he might be unwilifif to
provoke the principal men of the Jewish nation to send Tiberius an
account of his behavior on other occasions. This we may the more
easily credit, not only because at all times the remonstrances of a
province, were very much dreaded by the prefects, but because they
were more especially so under Tiberius ; who was very solicitous for
the peace of his provinces, and had endeavored to secure them from
the exactions of his officers. And it was for this reason, as he himself
said, that he suffered the presidents to remain in the provinces for so
long a time, because they all endeavored to enrich themselves, and the
shorter time they staid in them, the more eager they were to improve
it to that end.
Dr. Lardner also gives many striking evidences of the truthfulness
oi the evangelists, drawn from the agreement between their state-
ments, and the customs which at that period obtained among the Jews
and Romans. The reader is here presented with his remarks on the
circumstances which attended the death and burial of the Lord Jesns
Christ
« Pilate having at length passed sentence on Jesus, and delivered
him to be crucified, it will be proper next to consider what is said of
an inscription put upon the cross. John xix. 19, 20, *And Pilate
wrote a title, and put it on the cross ; and the writing was, Jesta of
Nazareth^ the King of the Jews.* This was the usual custom <^
the Romans, when any were condemned to death, to affix to the in-
strument of their punishment, or to order to be carried before them, a
writing expressing the crime for which they suffered. And this writ-
ing was called in Latin, tide, which word St John has made use of.
It will be sufficient to give an example or two of this in the margin.
St John says, that this title was * written in Hebrew, Greek and
Latin.* And it was at this time usual at Jerusalem, to set up adver-
tisements, that were designed to be read by all sorts of people, in se-
veral languages. Titus, in a message he sent to the Jews by Jose-
phus, when the city was almost in his hands, and by which he endeav-
ored to persuade them to surrender, says : < Did you not erect pil-
lars with inscriptions on them in the Greek and in our language. Let
no one pass beyond these bounds t'
Every one must needs observe the scoffs and derisions our Sa-
vior met with. There are three or four instances recorded in the
evangelists. One was whibt he was in the high-priest*s house*
* Then did they spit in his face and buffeted him, and others smote
him with the palms of their hands, saying. Prophesy unto us, thoQ
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBES. 153
Christ, who is he that smote thee ?' Matt. xxvi. 67, 68; Mark xir.
65. Pilate hearing our Lord was of Galilee, seat him to Herod ; and
before he was dismissed by him, * Herod with his men of war, set
him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe.'
Luke zxiii. 11. He was insulted and mocked by the soldiers, when
Pilate ordered him to be scourged the first time, that by that lesser
punishment, he might satisfy the Jews, and save his life, as is related
by St. John zix. 1, 2. After Pilate had condemned him to be cruci-
fied, the like indignities were repeated by the soldiers, as we are as-
assured by two evangelists : Matt, xxvii. 27 — 31 ; Mark xv. 16—20.
* And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and when
they had platted a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and a reed
in his right hand ; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked
him, saying: Hail King of the Jews. And they spit upon him,
and took the reed, and smote him on the head.' "
These are tokens of contempt and ridicule which were in use at
that time. Dio, among the other indignities offered to Sejanus, the
favorite of Tiberius, (in whose reign our Saviour was crucified,) as
they were carrying him from the senate-house to prison, particu-
kriy mentions this ; ** That they struck him on the head." But there
is one instance of ridicule which happened «o soon after this time, and
has so great a resemblance with what our Saviour met with,. that it
ought to be set down here at lengtli. Caligula, the successor of
Tiberius, had in the very beginning of his reign given Agrippa the
tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, being about the fourth part of his grand-
father Herod's dominions, with the right of wearing a diadem or
crown. When he was setting out from Rome to make a visit to his
people, the emperor advised him to go by Alexandria as the best way.
When he came thither he kept himself very private ; but the Alexan-
drians having got intelligence of his arrival there, and of the design
of his journey, were filled with envy, as Philo says, at the thought of
a Jew's having the title of king. Many ways they showed their in-
dignation-—one was this : ** There was one Carabas, a sort of dis-
tracted fellow, that in all seasons of the year went naked about the
streets. He was somewhat between a madman and a fool, the com-
mon jest of boys and other idle people. This wretch they brought
into the theatre, and placed him on a lofty seat, that he might be con-
spicuous to all ; then they put a thing made of paper on his head for
a crown, the rest of his body they covered with a mat instead of a
robe, and for a sceptre one put into his hand a little piece of a reed
which he had just taken up from the ground. Having thus given him
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154 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITr OF
a mimic royal dress, seyeral fonng fellows widi poles on their di0iil«
ders came and stood on each side 'of him as his guards. Then theie
came people toward him, some to pay their homage to him, others to
ask jostice of him, and some to know his will and pleasure concern-
ing affairs of state ; and in the crowd were loud and confused acdama*
lions of maris, maris ; that being, as they say, the 8yriac word for lordt
thereby intimating whom they intended to ridicule by all dus mock
show; Agrippa being a Syrian, and king of a large country in
Syria."
Before our Saviour was led away to be crucified he was scourged.
" Then released he Barabbas unto them ; and when he had scourged
Jesus, he delirered him to be crucified," Matt zxvii. 26 ; Mark xt»
li. Thai it was the usual custom of the Romans, before execution,
to scourge persons condemned to capital punishment, is evident from
many examples recorded in ancient historians. I shall set down
fix^m them in the margin two or three instances in the original words.
Aocounts of the executions of persons generally ran in this form :
^ They were stripped, whipped, and beheaded, or crucified, according
as the sentence was,"
Another particular mentioned here is, that our Saviour bore his
cross. John xix. 16, 17, '^ And they took Jesus and led him away ;
and he Jbearing his cross went forth." But he having been fatigued by
a long examination and a doable scourging, (as it seems,) they were
obliged after he had gone a short way to put it upon another. ** And
Ifaey laid hold on one Simon, a Cyrenian; and on him they laid
the cross that he might bear it after Jesus," Luke xxiii. 26; Mark
XV. 21.
This was the constant practice among the Romans for cnminals
to carry their own cross ; inasmuch that Plutarch makes use of it as
an illustration of the misery of vice ; <* that every kind of wickedness
produces its particular torment, just as every malefactor, when he it
brought forth to execution, carries his own 'cross."
It appears from the evangelists that our Lord was crucified with-
out the city. «< And he bearing his cross, went forth to a place called
the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha," John
xix. 17. <* For the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the
city," ver. 20. ^ And the apostle to the Hebrews has likewise men-
tioned this circumstance ; «« Wherefore Jesus, alio, suffered without
die gate," Heb. xiii. 12.
This is conformable to the Jewish law, and to examples men-
tioned in the. Old Testament; Numb. xv. d6, <<And the Lord said
2
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THE NBW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa I59
unta Mow0» The man shall surelj be put to death ; all the congrtga-
tkm shall siDne kim with etones without the camp,'* 1 Kings xxi. 13,
** Then they carried him (Naboth) forth out of the city, and stoned
him with stones, that he died." This was done at Jezreal, in the ter^
xitones of the king of Israel, not far from Samaria. And if this cus-
tom was practised there, we may be certain the Jews did not choose
that criminals should be executed within Jerutalem, the sanctity of
which they had so high an opinion of, and which they were very
zealous to preserve free from all ceremonial impurity, though' they
defiled it with the practice of the most horrid immoralities. It is pos-
sible indeed they might, in their sudden and ungovemed rage, a
thing they SiFcre mighty subject to at this time, upon any affront
offered to their laws or customs, put persons who thus provoked them,
to death upon the spot, in the city, or the temple, or wherever they
found them ; but whenever they were calm enough to admit the form
of a legal process, I dare say, they did not approve of an execution
in the city.
And among the Romans this custom was very common, at least
in the provinces. The robbers at Ephesus, which Petronius Arbitor
mentions, were crucified by order of the governor of the province
without the city. This was the custom likewise in Sicily, as appears
from Cicero.
All the four evangelists have particularly mentioned our Saviour's
burial ; that ** Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the
body of Jesus; then Pilate commanded the body to be ddivered.
And when Joseph had taken the body, he laid it in his own new
tomb," Matt xvii. 58—60; Mark xv. 46, 46; Luke xxiii. 60 — 6d;
John xix. 38 — 40. And it may be fairly concluded, the rulers of the
Jews did not disapprove of it ; since they were solicitous that the
bodies might be taken down, and not hang on the cross the next day.
John xix. 31, **The Jews, therefore," says St. John, «* because it was
the preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the
sabbath-day, (for that sabbath-day was an high day,) besought Pilate
that their legs might be broken, and that they might ,be taken
away."
Burial was not always allowed by the Romans in these cases.
For we find that sometimes a soldier was appointed to guard the
bodies of malefactors, that they might not be taken, away and buried.
However, it seems that it was not often refbsed, unless the criminals
were very mean, and infamous. Cicero reckons it one of the horrid
crimes of Verres* administration in Sicily, that he would take money
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156 0ENUINENE88 AND CEDIBILITy OF
of parents for the burial of their children whom he had put to death.
Both Suetonius and Tacitus represent it as one of the uncommon cru-
elties of Tiberius in the latter part of his reign, that he generally
denied burial to those who were put to death, by his orders, at Rome.
Ulpian, in his Treatise of the Duty of a Proconsul, says : *< The bodies
of those who are condemned to death are not to be denied to their
relations ;" and Augustus writes in the tenth book of his own life, that
he had been wont to observe this custom ; that is, to grant the bodies
to relations* Paulus says, << that the bodies of those who have been
punished, (with death,) are to be given to any that desire them in order
to burial."
It is evident, therefore, from those two lawyers, that the govern-
ors of provinces had a right to grant burial to the bodies of those
who had been executed by their order ; nay, they seem to intimate
that it ought not usually to be denied, when requested by any.
We may then depend upon it, that burial was ordinarily allowed
to persons put to death in Judea. The law of Moses is express, that
malefactors should be buried. Deut. xxi. 22, 23, << And if a man have
committed a sin wordiy of death, and he be put to death, and thou
hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree,
but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day, that Uiy land be not
defiled." And the later Jews retained a reverence for this law. A
body of the Idumeans having been let into Jerusalem by the zealots,
in order to strengthen their party ; after the Mention of very great
barbarities they had committed in the city and in the temple, Josephus
gives their neglect to bury those whom they had murdered, as one of
the strongest proofs of their wickedness. <* They come," says he,
** to such impiety, as to throw out men unburied, though the Jews
had so great concern for burial, as to take down and bury before sun-
set those who were crucified by a legal sentence." Since burial wa«
so strictly required by the Mosaic law, and was so agreeable to the
sentiments and inclinations of the Jewish people, we have all the rea-
son in the world to suppose it was seldom denied by the Roman gov-
ernors in that country.
St. John says, chap. xix. 39, 40, << There came also Nicodemus,
and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound
weight. Then took they (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus) the
body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the spices, as the
manner of the Jews is to bury." • This may seem to some a large
quantity of spices to be bestowed on a single body at its interment
And it has been made an objection by a modern Jew against the his-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SORXFTUREa 157
tarj of the New Testament AAd yet« according to SL Mark and
St. Luke, Mary Magdalene and some other women, having obserred
the *^ sepulchre, and where the body was laid/' went and ** brought
sweet spices, that they might anoint him. And on the first day of
the week, early in the morning, they came to the sepulchre, bringing
the spices which they had prepared," MadL xvi. 1 ; Luke xxiii. 65,
56; xxiT. 1.
But the largeness of this quantity will not surprise any who con-
sider the Jewish custom ; and that they were wont not only to em*
balm or anoint the body^ but to lay it also in a bed of spices. It is
said of Asa, 2 Chron. xvi. 14, « They buried him in the bed which
was filled with sweet odors, and divers kinder of .spices, prepared by
die apothecary's art ; and they made a very great burning for him.**
The /ews of this time seem not to have feillen short of their ances-
tors in Ais kind of expense ; for Josephus, in the account of Herod's
funeral profession, says, <* The soldiery was followed by five hundred
slaves and free-men bearing sweet spices." He mentions the same
number in die War, and in the Antiquities. It ifi likely there were
qpiees here for a burning, a»well as for a bed to lay Herod's body hi.
It is likewise objected by the same Jew, that the quantity of spi-
ces mentioned by* St. John was a load for a mule, and therefore could
not be carried by Nicodemus. One would not have expected such
an objection from a reasonable creature, who might know it to be a
very just, as well as common way of speaking, to ascribe to any per-
son th^t which is done by his order or direc&>n. St. John has made
particular mention of Joseph and Nieodemus as present at the burial
of Jesus. They were both of them tnen of substance, and may be
supposed to have ordered the attendance of some of their servants on
this occasion. . ,
Josephus, in his Jewish Antiquidra, takes die following nodce of
John the Baptist. «* About this time,*' says Josephbs, <* diore hap-
pened a difi^repce 'between Atet^ king of Petrea and Herod upon
this occasion. Herod the tetrarch had married the daughter of Are-
tas, and lived a considerable time with her. But, i^ a joUmey he
took to Rome, he made a visit to' Herod, his bmther, though not by
die same modier. Here falling in love with Herodias, wife of the
same Herod, daughter of their Inrother Aristobulus, and sister of
Agrippa the Great, he venture to make to her proposals of marriage.
She not disliking them, they agreed together at that time, that when
he was returned from Rome she would go and live with him. And
it was one part of the contract, that Aretas' daughter should be put
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168 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OP
Away. Thif was the beginning of the difference; and there being
also some disputes about the limits of their territories, a war arose
* between Aretas and Herod. And in a battle fought by them Herod's
whole army was defeated.
<*But," sAjs Jose^hus, <^some of the Jews were of opinion that
God had suffered Herod's army to be destroyed as a just punishment
on him for the death of John, called the Baptist. For Herod had
killed him, who was a just Inan, and had called ypon the Jews to be
baptized, and to practice virtue, exercising both justice toward men
md piety toward God. For so would baptism be acceptable to God,
if they made use of it, not for ^e expiation of their sins, but for the
purity of the body, the mind being first purified by righteousness.
And many coming to him, (for they were wonderfully taken with his
discourses,) Herod was seized with apprehensions, lest by his author-
ity they should be led into sedition against him ; for they seemed ca-
pable of undertaking any thing by his direction. Herod therefore
{hou^lit it better to take him off before any disturbance happened,
than to run the risk of a change of afiairs, and of repenting when it
should be too late to remedy disorders. . Being taken up upon this
suspicion of Herod, and being sent bound to the castle of Machaenis^
just mentioned, he was slain there. The Jews weie of opinion that
die destruction of Herod's army was a puniriunent upon him for that
action, God being displeased with him.'"*
In another passage of Josepbus, which the opposers of Christianity
(unable tp resist its fprce) have affirmed to be spurious, we have his
testimony to ib^ character, miracles, and doctrine, of Jesus Christ
AfVer relating a sedition of the Jews a^fbinst Pontius Pilate, which the
latter had quelled, he says, ** At that time lived Jesus, a>wise man, if
he may be called a man, for he performed many wonderful works.
.He was a teacher' of such men as received the truth with pleasure.
He drew over to him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the Christ.
4iid when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among us, had
'condemned him to the cross, they who before had conceived an afiee-
tion for him, did not cease to adhere to him. For on the third day he
. appeared to them alive again, the divine prophets. having foretold these
and many other wonderful things concerning, him. And the rest of
the Christians, so called from him, subsist to this time.'t
*- Antiq. 1. 18.' cap. y. sect I.
• f Of the genuinenets pf this passage, the learned Laidner is doubtful; but many
equally capable of judgihg, hold the contreiy opinion; and it does' appear to the
writer that Dr. Laidner*s grounds of suspicion are not sufficient.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 1{J9
The Jews have certain very ancient writings called the Mishna and
the Talmud. The Mishna comprehends all the laws, institutions^ and
rules of life which, besides the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, the Jews
thought themselves bound to observe. According to Prideauz, this
woriL was published about A. D. 150. The Talmud is a commentary
on the Mishna ; there are two such, one called the Jerusalem, and Ae
other the Babylonian Talmud; the former was published about A. D.
800, and the latter two hundred years later. The Mishna mentions
Gamaliel, the great doctor of the lawi who was Paul*s teacher ; but
although it contains certain evident allusions to the Christians, it does
not mention the name of Jesus Christ.
The Talmuds mention Jesus Christ; but, as might be expected firom
the prejudices of the Jews ' against him, they abound with notorious
falsehoods. Here is an example having an evident allusion to the
Nativity, ^* IJpon a certain day, when several masters were sitting at
the gate of the city two boys passed by before them ; one of whom
covered his head, the other had his head uncovered. Concerning
him' who, contrary to all the rules of modesty, had boldly passed by
with his head nnco^vered, Eliezer said he believed he was spurious ;
R. Joshua laid he baliered he was the son of a woman set apart ;
but R. Akiba said he was both. The others said to Akiba, Why do
you differ from the rest of your brethren! He answered that he
would prove ihe truth of what he had said. Accprdingly he went to
the mother of the boy, whom he found sitting in the market and selling
herbs. He then says to her, « My daughter, answer me the question
which I am going to put to you, and I will assure you of a portion of
happiness in the world to come.' She answered, < Confirm what
you say with an oath.' Aliiba then swore with his lips, but at the
same time absolved himself in his'mind. When he said to her, < Tell
me the origin of this your s6n V Which she did, stnd confessed that
it was as he had said. * When he returned to his colleagues and told
them the discovery he had m^de, they said, « Great is Akiba, who has
corrected the rest of the masters.' " , *
Notwithstanding this notofiouis falsehood and venomous blasphemy,
the fruit of deep rooted malice, we gather from this passage two im-
portant facts : First, that with all their enmity, the Jews never at-
tempted to deny the real existence of Jesus Christ And secondly,
that they were aware he claimed to be the Son of God. The esti-
. mate to be put upon their vile slapder of the Virgin Mother, ihay
be judged by what they say concerning Titus, who destroyed Jeru-
salem. '* This is the impious Titus who blasphemed the Most High,
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160 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILTTT OF
eren God himself. What did he do t He took a harlot into the
holy of holies, and their lay with her ; and he took a sword and em
the Teils \, at the same time there was a mirade^ for blood burst oot;
he thought he had killed God hunself. Well, what did he t He took
the Teils and made a sack pf them, and then put into it all the Teasels
of the aanctuary, and put them is^ a ship that he might go and (riumph
in his city." This horrid story is amply refuted by Josephus, froia
whom it appears, that when Titus entered the temfde, it was all in
flames, and he neither was guilty of lewdness nor yet did he blas-
pheme* the Deity. But if these wretches. propa^ted such a foul cal-
umny upon Titus, it is not surprising they should Tillify Jesus Christ,
who was Tiewed by them as the author of all the calamities which
befell their nation.
The Talmudical writings also relate the journey of Jesus Christ
into Egypt, and do not deny that he performed numerous mira-
des. But they ascribe them to. his haTing acquired the right pro-
nunciation of the Shemmaphorish, the ineffable name of God, which
according to them he stole out of the temple. They also attributed
his miracles to magic, which he learnt in Egypt, and for the practice
of which they say he was excomraunic«bod.. Thw^ amwmnt of tko
manner in which he brought m^ical arts out of that country is suf-
ficiently absurd. ** He could not bring them away in writing, bo-
cause the priests searched all al their .going away, that they might
not carry out magical avts to teach them' to men dwelling in other
countries :" therefore say thisy, << he brought them out in a cutting in
his flesh.'' They also mention the death of Christ, but falsely say,
that lie was stoned and hanged ; they say, <' The tradition is, that on
•the cTening of the pasitoTer, Jesus was hanged, an^ that a crier went
before him for forty days mtaking this proclamation : This man comes
foUh to be stoned, because he de;alt in torceries, and persuaded and
seduced , Israel ; whosocTer knows of any defence for him let him
come forth and produce it But no defence could be found ; Aere-
fore they hanged him upon the CTening of the passoTer. Ula said, his
oase seqmed not to admit of any defence^ since he was a seducer ; and
of such God has said, Thou shalt not spare him nor conceal him."*
It is unnecessary here ito comment on the notorious falsehood con-
tained in the statement that Jesus was hanged, further than merely to
notice it ; as the account of the evangdis ts is sustained by the most
indubitable testimony, which will yet be dwelt upon at large.
* Beut xiiL 8.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 161
These writings take the following notice of the aposde James. R.
Akiba and Rabbi Eliezer are talking together ; Eliezer says, « O Aki-
ba, you have brought something to my mind. As I was walking on
the High-street of Zipporia, I met one of th^Q disciples of Jesus of
Nazareth, whose name is James, a man of the town of ^hechania.
He said to me, < I|i your law it is written, Thou shalt not bring the
hire of a harlot.'* I did not make him any answer ; but he added,
and said to me, * Jesus of Nazareth taught me the meaning : She
gathered it of the hire of a hariot, and they shall return to the hire of
a harlot.'t * From an impure place they came, and to an impure
place they shalt return;' which interpretation, says Eliezer, did not
displease me."
The following passage, while it shows the virulent temper of the
Jewish doctors against Jesus Christ, seeiiis to contain an acknowledge
ment of Mb power t<> work miracles, and th^t it was exercised by his
discij^es. ** In the^Gamera, upon Avoda, Sara, in Bereetha, it is said :
No maamay converse with heretics, nor receive medicines fVom them ;
though the disease be mortal and desperate. Of this there is an ex-
ample in th& son of pama, nephew of R. Ishmael, by his sister ;
when he had been bit by a serpent, James of Shechania, a ,disciple
of Jesus, came to heal him, but R. Ishmael would not allow it to be
done. The son of Dama said to K. Ishmael : O Rabbj Ishmael, iby
undq, let me be heded by him ; I will allege a text out of the law
which allows of it But before he hii finished all he would say, he
expired. Then Ishmael pronounced this speech over him : Thou art
happy, .0 son of Dama ; for thy body has reQiained pure, and thy
soul has gone pure out of it; and thou hast not tranegresse< the
words of thy brethren." Thus tl^e Talmudical writings, aldiough
they abound with virulent aspersions of the character of Jesus, of
his mother, and of the Christians ; yet acknowledge his miracles, hip
preaching, his sufferings, and his death as a malefactor.
Nor are the testimonies of heathen adversaries to Christianity, less
explicit 6r less satisfactory than those already ^adduced. The ancient
Romans carefully preserved the memory of all remarkable events,
which happened in the city ; and this was done either in thei^ JicU
€f the SenaU, or in the Daily Acts of the people, which, were dili-
gently made and kept at Rome. It was also customary for (he govern-
ors of provinces to send to the emperor an account of remarkable
transactions, that occurred in the places where they resided, which
• Deut. xxiij. 18 + Mic. L 7.
2p^ '31 2
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1(B{ OSNUINENBSS AND CREDIBILrrT OF
they pntenrad tt the acts of their respectlTe gOfemmeDts. In con-
formity "witfa this usage, Pikte kept menK>in of ihe Jewish affaire^
daring his proearatorship, which were therefore called the Acts of Pi-
late. ** Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, which was prssented to
die emperor Ankminos the Pious ^md die senate of Rome, about the
year 140, haTing mentioned our Saviour's crucifixion, and some of
die ctrcumstancei^ of it, adds : * And that these things were so done,
3rou may know from the acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate.' "
Afterwardi, in die same Apology, "having mentioned some of our
Lord's miracles, sudi as heding diseases and raising the dead, he
wk^s:, «« And Uiat these things were done by him you may know from
the acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate."
t Tertullian, in his Ai>ology, about the. year two hdndred, haTing
«poken of our Saviour's crocifixion and resurrection,* his appearances
to the disciples, and his ascension lo heaven in the sight of the same
disciples, who were ordained by him to preach the Gospel over the
wifridf goes on : <* Of all these things, relating to Christy Pilate, in
his conscience a Christian, sent an acoeunt to Tiberius, then em-
peror."
In another chapter, or section of the same Apology, nearer to the
beginning, he speaks to this purpose : *.« There was an ancient de^
cree that no one should be received for a deity unless he was first ap-
proved of by the sehate. Tiberias, in whosetime the Christiaa reli-
gion had its rise, having received from Palatine in Syria an account
of such things as manifested our Saviour's divinity, proposed to the
senate, and giving his own vote as first in his favor, that he should be
placed among the gods. The senate refiised, because he had himself
declined that honor. Nevertheless the emperor persisted in his own
opinion, and ordered that if any accused the Chrisrdans they should
be punished." And then adds : <« gearch," says he, " jrour own wri-
tings, and yon will diere find diat Nero was the first emperor who
exercised any ^acts of severity toward the Christians, because diey
were dien very numerous at Rome."
We will now observe what notice Eusebius takes of these things
in his Ecclesiastical History. •« When di6 wonderful resurrection of
our Saviour, and his ascension to heaven, were in die mouths of all
men, it being an ancient custom for the governors of provinces to
write to die emperor, and give him an account of new and remarkaUe
occurrences, that he might not bfe ignorant of any thing; our Saviour's
resurrection being much talked of throughout all Palestine, Pilate in-
formed the emperor of it, as likewise of his miracles, which he had
3
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTUBE8. 168
heard of; and that, being raised up after he had been put to death, he
was already believed by many to be a god. And it is said that Tibe*
rius referred the matter to the senate ; but thatihey refused their con*
sent, under a pretence that it had not been £r8t approved of by th^m;
there being an ancient law that no one should be deified among the
Romans without an order of the senate ; but' indeed because die sa-
ving and divine doctrine of the Gospd needed not be confirmed by
human judgment and authority. However, Tiberius persisted in his
former sentiment, and allowed not any thing to be done that was pre>
judicial to the doctrine of Christ. These things are related by Ter-
tullian, a man famous on other accounts, and particularly for his skill
in the Roman laws. I say he speak? thus in his Apology for the
Christians, written by him in the Roman tongue, but since translated
into Greek. His words are these : ** There was an ^ancient decreet
Aat no one should be consecrated as ^a deity by the emperor, unless
he was first approved of by the senate. Marcus iBmilius knows this
by his god Albumuq. This is to our purpose, for as much as among
you divinity is bestowed by human judgmient. And if God does not
please man, he shall not be God. And, according to this way of,
thinking, man must be propitious to Qod. Tiberius, therefore, in
whose time the Christian name was first known in the world, having
received an account of this 'doctrine out of Palestine, where it began,
communicated that acoount to the senate ; giving a| die same time his
own suffrage in favor of it. But the senate rejected it, because it had
not been approved of by themselves. . Nevertheless the emperor per-
sisted in his judgment^ and threatened death to such as should accuse
the Christians." « Which," sidds Eusebius, «« could be no other than
a disposal of Divine Providence, that the doctrine of the Gospel,
which was then in its beginning, ndght b^ preached all over the world
without molestation.*' *
The preceding testimonies are, all calculated to exhibit the credi-
bility of the New Testament writers in such a clear light as must
convince every uncontaminated mind. In presenting those testimo-
nies the difficulty has been, not to find what may be considered suffi-
ciently convincing, but what to select out of the great abundance be-
fore us. When to the coincidence of the narratives with the history
of jkheur times, and the direct testimony to the existenc<e, charactery
miracles, doctrines and death of Jesus Christ afforded by his enemies,
we add the style of the writings, the ^gument will be complete.
* Lavdnnr vol. ri. pp! 605^-e08.
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lU GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OF
All who are vened in such subjects are agreed that the style of
manner of writing is sach as manifestly shows that the witnesses
taiiist hare been borft and educated in the Jewish religion. This
evident from the words and phrases, the many allusions to the temj
worship, the peculiar usages and sentiments of the Jews, and t
prevalence of the Old Testament phraseology, not only in quotatioi
but interwoven into the body of Ae writings. The style also provi
that the writers were not of a superior rank and education than tb>
writers are represented to have been. The style, especially of the
gospels, is destitute of ornament; it presents no harmonious periods
to charm the ear, no pompous expressions, no high sounding Ian-
^age, no false ornament of any kind. But it is evident that the^wtt«
nesses were plain men, who honestly related what they knew, and
made no attempt to adorn their narratives, but were intent upon
things, not upon words. Paul's writings, (as the man himself differed
from all the others, both in hisattainments and circumstances,) differ
from all the others. As might be expected from one bom at Tarsus,
educated at the feet-of Gamaliel, and frpm a daring blasphemer con-
verted into a bold advocate of the cross of Christ, his aigument^on
Is that of a Jewish* convert, confuting his brethren from their own
writings ; and in acconknce with what can be readily gathered of his
character from the writings of Luke, while ne is often devoid of
method, his arguments are irresistiUe. The character of John,
Ihough differing so widely from that of Paul, as impressed in his wri-
tings, is just such as might have becui elpectedfrom the disciple whom
Jesus loved ; while the epistles of Peter exhibit the character of the
once rash but now humble and penijtent apostle. In a word, the mord
closely the writings of the New Testament are examined, the more
deariy must the credibility of the writings appear; and when to
this is added the collateral testimony, the argument is irresistible.
SECTION II.
NoTwrrHSTANnmo the overwhelming xnass of testimony which
has been adduced. by friends and foes in support of the real existence*
of Jesus Christ, a» the reader is apprized, a oertain class of Infidels,
in opposition to the force of evidence and of reason, maintain that Je-
sus Christ never did exist, but was merely a mythological personage.
Therefore that their foUy inay'be exhibited in its true light, we will
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THE NEW TESTAMENT BCRIPTUBEa 169
now retom, and take up the objections urged by their champion, and
representative, Mr* Taylor ; and again present what he calb the
proofs which support the truth of his two last propositions.
** Prop. III. That the persons of whoi^ they (^ Scriptures of the
New Testament) treat, never existed; Because, demoniacs, devils,
ghosts, angels, hobgoblins, (see Acts xiz. 16,) persons who had once
been dead, who could walk on watpr, ride in the air, ^., such as
Satan and Jesus Christ, are the persons ^f whom these Scriptures
treat; and that such persons never existed is demonstrable: 1st
From the utter incongruity of such figments with the established laws
of sound reason. 2ndly. From the total absence of all historic^
reference to their existence. And Srdly. From innumerable pass^get
of these Scriptures themselves, which fully admit the merely vision*
ary hypostasis of their fabulous hero. (See Luke ix. 29 ; Mark iz. 2 ;
Luke xxiv. 31 ; 1 John v. 6 ; and innumerable other passages, in per^
feet accordance with the tnfe and genuine gospels of the most primi-
tive Christians, "which taught that he was niiiety-eight miles tall and
twenty-four miles broad ; ;that he was not crucified at all^ that he was
never bom at all ; that by faith only we are saved, iio. ^., all esqually
indieative that Christiani^ had no existence at all, but Was a matter
of mere conceit, fancy or superstition, fr6m fint io Uau)
Prop. IV. That the events which they relate never happened, is
demonstrable (further than as a consequence of the preceding prbpo*
sition) from the fact that some, many, or all of these events had been
previously related' of the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome*
and more especially of the Indian idol Chrishna, whose religion, with
less alteration than time and translations have made in the Jewish
Scriptures, may be traced in every dogma and every Ceremony of the
evangelical mythology." • *
Is it not passing strange that any man, who possessed the exercise
of his reason, would have dared to insult the good sense of his read-
ers, by this mass of impudence and misrepresentation, and does not
every candid reader, in these unblushing falsehoods, behold another
instance of the wretched shifts to which Infidels have to resort to de-
ceive the ignorant and support their worthless cause? All that is con*
taiiied in this mass of falsehood, has been ah«ady, in efiect, fully
answered. But that not a doubt may remain, we will take up, and
reply to, this man's objections.
An abundance of testimony has already been adduced io prove that
Jesus lived at the precise period asserted in the New Testament ; and
that immense multitudes, who had ample means of ascertaining
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166 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITT OP
whether the facto related did occur, embraced this religion, which
rests upon those facts, and whose sacrifice of property, liberty, and
life itself, amply prove the sincerity of their belief in those not cpin*
ionst and ideas, but broad facta of which their eyes and ears were
the witness^. But were we deprived altogether of testimony of this
nature, and could all the books of the New Testament be blotted out
of existence, still we have- in the undoubted writings of ancient hea-
thens and Jews, the decided enemies of Christianity, documents suffi-
cient to establish all the primary facts on which the Christian religion
rests. And putting but of sight all that hsB been already stated upon
these subjects, in our preceding pages, we will now prove, that the
earMest enejuies of Christianity, who had on their side every advan-
tage excq>t fruthi never attempted to deny the existence o( Jesus
Christ, or the leading circumstances of his history.
The first witness whose testimony we will adduce is Tacitus, the
Roman historian, who lived during the apostolic age, and is highly
celebrated for his love of civil liberty, and his philosophical sagaci^ ;
but swayed' by the prejudices of heathenism, he treated the religion
of Jesus Christ .with contempt, regarding it as a modification of Jew-
ish superstition, and taking jio sufficient pains to obtain correct infor-
mation eonceming its doctrin«« «nd its practical influence.
After describing the conflagration which in the tenth year of Nero,
(A. D. 64,) destroyed a large part of the city of Home, the historian
says : <* But neither human assistance, nor the largesses of the empe-
ror, nor all the atonements oflS^red to the gods, avaHed ; the infamy of
&at horrible transaction still adhered to him. To suppress, if possi-
ble, this common rumor, Nero procured others to be accused, and
punished with exquisite tortures a rase of men detested for their evil
practices, who were commonly known by the name q( Christians.
The author of that sect (or name) was Christus, who in the reign of
Tiberius was punished with death, as a criminal, by procurator Pon-
tius Pilate. But this pestilent supentition, though checked for awhile,
broke out afresh, not only in Judea, where the evil firat originated,
but even, in the city (of Rome,) the common smk into which every
&ing abominable flows from all qbarters of the world. At first those
only were apprehended, who confessed themselves of that sect; af-
terwards a vast mfiltitude were discovered by them ; all of whom were
condemned, not so much for the crime of burning the city, as for their
enmity to mankind. Their executions were so contrived as to expose
them to derision and contempt Some were covered over with the
skins of wild beasfs, that they might be torn to pieces by dogs ; some
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 167
were crocifiedy while others, having beeif daubed over with combusti-
ble materials, were set up as lights in the night time, and thus burned
to death. For these spectacles, Nero gave his own gardens, and, at
the same time, exhibited there the diversions of the circus ; sometimes
standing in the crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a charioteer,
and at other times driving a chariot himself; until ^t length, these
men, though really criminal and deserving exemplary punishment, <
began to be commiserated, as people who were destroyed, not out of
regard to the public welfare, but only to gratify the cruelty of
one man." • '
Tacitus here charges upon the Christians certain ofiences ; it is well
known that they consisted in nothing but their inflexible refusal to
flatter the vices of the emperors and the nobles, or to join in the
established idolatry, and the reigning licentiousness of the Koman
people.
The' next witness is Caius Suetonius Tranquillus, another Roman
historian. Who flourished in the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, about
A. D. 120. In his life of the emperor Claudius, who reigned from
A, D. 41., to A. D. 54., Suetonius says of him : ** He banished the
Jews from Rome, who were continually making disturh3nces, Chrest^
us being their leader." It is well known that the heathen people
flomedmra called the Jesns Christ, Chi^stus ; tte probability is liiat
&e Jewish enmity against :those who had embraced Christianity, pro-
duced certain disputes and disturbances which came to the ears of the
emperor ; and the meaning of Suetonius appears to be, that there
were, disturbances among the Jews and others at Rome, on account
of Jesus Christ and his followers. It is very probable that ** the
Jews who were expelled from Rome were Christians^ for the heathens
viewed Christianity only as a modification of Judaism ; and th^ first
Christians being chiefly of the Jewish nation, were for some time
confounded with the disciples of Moses, and pardcipated in all the
hardships that were imposed upon the Jews. That the tumults nvn-
tioned had their origin in the preaching of the Gospel, we may infer
from the fact that the Jews were exceedingly firm ^nd obstinate , in
their religious disputes, besides the preaching of the Gospel was pe-
ciiliariy oflTensiv^ to them. That the passage of Suetonius includes 4he
Christians, is evident from what is said in Mark xviii. 1, 2, of Aquila,
and his wife Priscilla, both of the Jewish nation, but professors of
Christianity, " Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth ; and
* Tadtus, Annal lib. zv. c 44. ■
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168 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
found a certain Jew named Aquila, bom at Pontius, lately come from
Italy with his wife Priscilla ; because that Claudius had commanded
aU Jews to depart from Borne.**
Here then we baye a confirmation of the truthiulness of Luke's
writings, and a satisfactory testimony that there were Christians at
Borne, during the reign of Claudius, only a very few years after the
death of Christ. The same author, treating of the persecutions of
the Christians by Nero says : <« The Chi;^tians were proscribed ; a
sect of men of a new and magical superstition."
The next witness we will introduce is Martial, another heathen
anthor, who flourished at Rome, during the reign of Nero. In the
following passage he i^udes to the persecutions of the Christians
imder that emperor. ^ You have, perhaps, lately seen acted in the
theatre^ Mucins, who thrust his hand into the fire. If yon think such
a one patient, valiant, «tont, you are a mere senseless dotard. For it
is 8 much greater thing, when threatened with the4roubUsome cdat, to
say, I do not sacrifice, than to obey the command, * Bum the hand.' '*
The troublesome coat br shirt of the Christians here mentioned, a
cruelty which, as we have already leamed from Tacitus, the Christ-
iaas unjustly suffered, was made like a sack of paper, or coarse linen
dioth, and having been first besmeared within and wi&out with pitch,
wax, rosin, sulphur, and such like combustible substances, or dipped
all over in them, was put upon- the peirson for whom it was appointed ;
and that he might be kept upright, the more to resemble a flaming
toich, his chin was fastened to a stake fixed in the ground.
Seneca, whose death happened about a year aHer the fire at Rome,
which was the occasion of the persecution of the Christians, seenls
lo refer to that cruel death ; for, describing the greatest cause of fear,
he says : ** Imagine here, a prison, crosses and racks, and the hook^
and a stake thrast through the body and coming out at the mouth,'
and the limbs tom by chariots pulling adverse ways, and that coat be-
smeared and interwoven with combustible materials nutriment for fire,
and whatever else beside these, cruelty has invented. It is np won-
der, if, in sudi a case, fear ranneth high, whete the variety of evils
is so great, and the preparation is so terrible."
The next and last witness whose testimony s shall be adduced is
Caius Plinius Csecilius Secundus, better known by the name of Pliny
the Younger. He flourished about the beginning of the second cen-
tury, and was propraetor of the provinces of Pontus and Bithynia,
und^r the emperor Trajan. Under Trajan a persecution of the Christ-
ians commenced A. D. 100, and in that remote country there was at
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CRIPTURE& 109
that time vast multitudes of Christians, against whom, by the edicts
of the emperor, Pliny had to use all manner of severity. But he,
being a man of moderation and good sense, before proceeding to ex-
tremities, represented the case to Trajan, and received his commands
concerning it. Here is the correspondence.
** Pliny, to the emperor Trajan, wisheth health and happiness :
It is my constant custom, sir, to refer myself to you, in all matters
concerning which I have any doubt. For who can better direct me
where I hesitate, or instruct me where I am ignorant ? I have never
been present at any trials of Christians ; so that I know not well
what is the subject-matter of punishment or of enquiry, or what strict-
ness ought to be used in either. Nor have I been a little perplexed
to determine whether any difference ought to be made upon account
of age, or whether the young and tender, and the full grown and ro-
bust, ou^ht to be treated all alike ; whether repentance should .entitle
to pardon, or whether all who have once been Christians ought to be
puniflihed, though they are now no longer so ; whether the name itself,
although no crimes be detected, or crimes only belonging to the name,
ought to be punished. Concerning all these things I am in doubt.
In the meantime I have taken this course with all who have been
brought before me, and have beep accused as Christians. I have put
the question to them, whether they were Christians ? Upon their
confessing to me that they were, I repeated the question a second and
a third time ; threatening also, to punish them with death. Such as
still persisted, I ordered away to be puQisJied; for it was no doubt
with me, whatever might be the nature of their opinion, that contu-
macy, and inflexible obstinacy, ought to be punished. There were
others of the same infatuation, whom, because they are Roman citi-
zens, I have noted down to be sent to the city.
In a short time, the crime spreading itself, even whilst under per-
secution, as is usual in such cases, divers sorts of people came in my
way. An information was presented to me, without mentioning the
author, containing the names of many persons, who, upon examina-
tion, denied that they were Christians, or had ever been so ; who re-
peated after me an invocation of the gods, and with wine and frank-
incense made supplication to your i^age, which, for that purpose, I
had caused to be brought and set before . them, together with the stat-
ues of the deities. Moreover, they reviled the name of Christ, none
of which things, as is said, they who are really Christians can by
any means be compelled to do.. These, therefore, I thought proper
to discharge.
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170 GENUINENESS AND CRBinBILITT OF
Othen were named by an informer, who at first confetsed then-
•elvee Chriatians; and afterwardi denied it ; the rest said they had
been Christians, bat had left4hem, some tiuee yean ago, some lon-
ger, and one or more abore twenty years. They all worshiped
your image, and the statues of the gods; these also reviled Christ.
Jliey qghrmed that the whole of their faulty or error j lay in this^ that
they were wont to meet together, on a Hated day, before it was
light, and sing among themselves, aUematdy, a liymn to Christ as
Ood; and bind themselves by an oath, not to the commission of any
wickedness, but not to be guilty of th^, or robbery, or adultery f
never to falsify their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them
when called upon to return it. TFhen these things were petformedf
it was their custom to separate, and then to come together again is
a meal, which they ate in common, without any disorder; but this
they had forebome since the publication of my edict, by which, a>
cording td your commands, I prohibited assemblies^ .
After receiving this account, I judged it the more necessary to ex-
amine, and that by torture, two maid servants, which were called
ministers. But I have discovered nothing beside an evil and exces-
sive superstition.
Suspending therefore all judicidi. proceedings, I have recoune to
you for advice; for it has appeared unto me« matter highly deserv-
ing consideration, especially upon account of the great number of
persons who are in danger cf suffering; for many of aU ages, and
every rank, of both sexes likeunse, are accused, and will be accused.
Nor has the contagion of this stspsrstition seized ciths only, but the
lesser towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it seems to
me that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain that the tem-
ples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; and
the sacred solemnities, aftei* a long intermission, are revived. Victims
likewise are every where bought up, whereas for some time tiiers
were few purchasers. Whence it is easy to imagine what numbers
of men might be ' reclaimed, if pardon were granted to those who
shall repent.**
To the precedmg letter the emperor Trajan sent the following
reply.
<< Trajan, to Pliny, wisheth health and happiness —
Ton have taken the right method, my IHiny, in your proceedmgs
with those who- have been brought before you as Christians ; for it is
impossil>le to establish anyone rule that shall hold universally. They
are not to be sought for. If any are brought before you and aie oon-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 171
▼ieted, they ought to be punished ; however, he that denies his being
a Christiaiif and makes it evident in fact, that is, by supplicating to
our gods, though he be suspected to have been so formerly, let him
be pardoned upon repentance. But in no case, of any crime what-
ever, may a bill of information be received, without being signed by
him who presents it \ fot that would be a dangerous precedent and
nnworthy of my government."
The letter of Pliny bears a noble testimony to the fortitude of the
.Christians in suffering, and to their steady perseverance in the flEdth
of Jesus Christ. It also shews that their religion and morals were
precisely such as are inculcated in the New Testament Scriptures*
It likewise shews the great progress Christianity had made in a very
short space of time, for, from this it. appears, that seventy years after
the disciples began to preach Jesus to the Gentiles, in the part of Asia
where Pliny presided, which was at a great distance from Judea, *
there were great numbers of Christians in the cities, in the villages,
and in the country.
Now we appeal to every candid reader, whether these memorials
of antiquity do not of themselves furnish a triumphant refutation of
the impudent falsehood of Mr. Taylor, when he asserts that Jesus
Christ had no real existence, and that none of the events recorded ki
the New Testament did occur.
We cannot dismiss this^subject without calling die attention of the
reader to the testimony offered by these ancient memorials to the in-
tegrity of the early Christians, and consequently to the validity of
their declarations, arising from the depositions of those who und«r
the dread of torture and death renounced Christianity. . If any of
those who apostatized could have divulged a secret injurious to the
cause which they had renounced, they certainly would have done so.
To this they would have been urged by the strongest motives. For
^ose who desert any cause are always eager to justify themselves by
raising some reproach against the party which they have left.
Mr. Taylor, with his usual disregard of truth, asserts concerning
the events recorded by the evangelists, that ** some, many or all of
these events, had been previously related of the gods and goddesses
of Greece and Rome, and more especially of the Indian idol ChriBhr
na^ whose religion, with less alteration than time and translations
have made in the Jewish Scripture, may be traced in every dogma,
and every ceremony of the Evangelical Mythology." ' With regard
to the crowd of false deities, which were objects of the ancient Greek
and Roman idolatry, to the numerous and well knoMrn school-bo(^
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172 GBNUINENEdS AND CREDIBIUTy OP
entitled Pantheons, and Mythological Dictionaries, and to their state-
ments of the opinions and relations which had been tanght by priests
and poets, the reader is referred : as supplying a plain and ample re-
futation of Mr. Taylor's impudent falsehood.
As Mr. T. lays great stress upon the affinity whieb he asserts ex-
ists between the Indian idol Crishna, Krishna, or Krishnu ; and as
he dwells at large upon this subject in his Syntagma, Diegesis, and
that most blasphemous and contemptible of all books, his Pulpit-
it will be necessary to present this subject in its proper light With
an evidently malignant design he altered the spelling of the word
Crishn4 to Chrishna, that so it might bear a closer resemblance t6
the sacred name of Jesus Christ. And in his impioiis works he as-
serts that the Hindoo Crishna^ and the Latin ChrisHis, are the -same
names, but owing to the peculiarity of each of the languages, with
different terminations ; Jesus Christ he styles our Chrish, and Crish-
na the Hindoo Chrish. But he concealed from hifi readers (what he
could not but have known) that the proper name of the founder of
Christianity was not Christ but Jesus. The former being the Greek
translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which is not a proper name ; but
only an appelative describing the office and authority of our Lord and
Saviour. He also conceals (whUt also he must have known) that
Crishna signifies Black and Blue^ as the reafler will shortly see.
In none of the wocks which treat of Hindoo mythology, is this idol
called Chriihna. In Mr. Moor*9 Hindoo Pantheon it is Krishna.
In Rees's CyclopoBdia the same mode of spelling is adopted ; but at
the dose of the article (Krishna) it is stated that the name of Krishna
is variously written in European languages ; Crishna, Cristna, Krist-
na, Krishna, Quixena, Kishen ;" and by Mr. Ward, in his View of
the History, Literature and Mythology of the Hindoos, it is written
Krishnu.
For his willful and malignant alteration of the spelling of the word,
Mr. Taylor received a public rebuke from Dr. J. Pye Smith, which
called forth a reply that must stamp its author with infamy as a willful
and malignant liar. It is contained in. the following extract from his
Syntagma.
«* Chrishna. So is spelled the name of the favorite god of the
Indian women, in the manifesto; but Krishna, or KrUhnUf is the
way in which the Doctor chooses to spell it ; charging the manifesto
writer with 'having altered the spelling of the word, apparendy with
the base design of giving it a c)oser resemblance to the sacred name
of our divine Lord.' »*♦«*•
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa 178
But here again, with all this cant, this severe charge of * altering with a
base design/ is brought against the writer of the manifesto, like all the
other charges in this scurrilous answer, to cheat and bilk the reader
out of the exercise of his impartiality, and to make his own falsehood
slip down unperceiyed in the torrent of his iayective against another.
For, all the alteration in the spelling of the name, and consequently all
the baseness and design of that altered spelling, happens to be his own.
And his apparent design, too apparent, indeed, to be concealed, was, by
altering the spelling, which he Juu done, ^d I have not, to suppress
and keep back from observance, the close resemblance of the names of
the idol of the Indian, and the divine Lord of the European women.
The spelling of the name in the Asiatic Researches, by Sir Wil-
liam Jones (the fountain-head, and first and highest authority, from
which I quoted ^t) will be found to be, not Krishna, nor KrishnUi but
as it is exhibited in the manifesto, Chkishna. Sir William Jones is,
on all hands, admitted to be the most competently informed, and most
learned investigator of this recondite subject ; and in addition to his
being on all hands admitted to be one of the most accomplished phi-
lologers and prodigies of intellectual acquirements that ever breathed,
if not the facile princeps of the whole world, in these respects ; he
was also a sincere and ardent ChristiaQ. He expressly avows and
maintains his conviction as a Christian, in so many words, ' the ada-
manUne pillars of our faith cannot be shaken by any investigation of
heathen mythology.' And in another passage, * I, who e
believing the divinity of the Messiah, from the undisputei
and manifest completion of many prophecies, &c. am
course, to believe the sanctity of the venerable books to
Sacred Person refers.'
Yet the word^ of Sir William Jones, this unquestionably fitst,
highest and best authority on this subject are, and I pray the reader's
observance, that I give even his spelling of the words : * That the
name of Chrishna, and the general outline of his i^tory, were long
anterior to the birth of our Saviour, and probably to the time of Ho-
mer, we know very certainly,* (Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259.)
I ask the reader then to direct his researches to those researches ! I
ask the Christian to say, whether he can suspect, that this Christian
writer would have spelt the name Chrishna rather than Krishna, or
Krishnu, with a base design of producing an apparent resemblance
where there was none in reality? I ask his candor to decide whether
this unquestionably sincere Christian would have spelt the name as
he has done, without the most constraining evidence to determine his
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174 OBNUINENE8S AND CREDIBIUTY OP
mind, that that was the essentially correct spelling? and whether,
aAer his long residence in India, and laborious studies into the Asiatie
mythologies, he would have spoken so positively, without having
grounds and reasons for doing so, that are not to be yielded to the
arbitrary conjectures or impudent denials of subsequent critics, of
interested, crafty quibblers, who want to get out of it now at any rate,
and whp, smarting under the irresistible inferences which we have
drawn ; wish their own man at the , for having given us such
good grounds for our inferences ; and now, forsooth, that the spdl
tells against them, they won't give th^ir prodigy of learning credit for
knowing how to spell.'**
What estimate will the candid ;«ader place upon the character of
this miscreant, who dares to trifle with the eternal destinies of his un-
fortunate readers, when it-^is proved that to betray. his followers into
a belief of his veracity, he makes a parade, with anxious minuteness,
of citing the volume and the pages of Sir W. Jones' works only to de-
ceive. In all the works of Sir W. Jones, and in the original Calcutta
edition of the Asiatic Researches, the orthography is uniformly not
Chriikna, but Crishna. Well,- therefore, has it been remarked of
this man, that his incessant use oT trick and misrepresentation, marks
not only a bad cause, but ths^t the advocate is conscious of its badness.
That the reader may see for himself that this man utters Ddsehood
with a face of brass, and that his blasphemously imputed identity
betwe«i the Hindoo Krishna, or Crishna, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
is without any real foundation, we will now place before him all diat
the learned Sir W. Jones has stated concerning this Hindeo idol, and
contained in his essay on the gods of Greece, Italy, and India, in
every instance giving the spelling of the word Crishna as given by
the learned author.
'* Crishna passed a life, according to the Indians, of a most extra-
ordinary and incomprehensible nature. He was the son of Dd vaci.
by Vasud' eva; but his birth was concealed through fear of the tyrant
Cansa, to whom it had been predicted, that a child bom at that- time
in that family would destroy him : he was fostered, therefore, in Mat-
* The aadadty exhibited by Mr. Taylor, in this passage, can be accounted for,
only on the ^oond that very ftw of his readers could have it in their power to de-
tect his falsehood, as even in England, the works of 8ir Wm. Jones are very acaroe.
The latest edition, a copy of which was with difficulty procured for the writer in
London, was published A. D. 1807. As in this country not one in a thousand of
Mr. Taylor's readers can obtain access \o the work, and great stress being placed
by many Infidels upon Taylor's assertions; this, it is hoped, will be a sufficient
apology for presentuig fitirfy and fully, all that Sir W« Jones has said upon the
subject
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THE NEW TEST* AMBNT SCRIPTUREI^ 175
hurk by an honest herdsman, sumamed Ananda, or Happy, and his
amiable wife Yasoda, who, like another Pales,. was constantly occu-
pied in her pastures and her dairy. In their family were a multitude
of young gopas or cowherds, and beautiful gopis or o^ilkmaids, who
were his play*fellows during his infancy ; and, in his early youth, he
selected nine damsels as his favorites, with whom he passed his gay
hours in dancing, sporting, and playing on his flute. For the remark-
able number of his gopis I have no authority but a whimsical picture)
where nine girls are grouped in the form of an elephant, on which he
sits and pip^; and unfortunately, the word nava signifies both nine
and new or young, so that in the following stanza, it may admit of
two interpretations :
tanm^ ijipuline nsTaballaTl
perisadd saha c61icutuhaldt
drutavilamwitachdruvihdrinam
herimaham hilday^na sadd vah^
'I bear in my bosom continually, that God, who, for sportive
recreation, with a train of nine (young) dairy-maids, dances gracefully,
now Ayick, now slow, on the sands jus^ left by the Daughter of the
Sun.'
Both he and the three. Ramas are described as youths of pefect
beauty ; but the princesses of Hindostan, as well as the damsels of
Ananda's farm, were passionately in love with Criahna^ who con-
tinues to this hour the darling god of the Indian women. The sect
of Hindoos who adore him with enthusiastic, and almost exclusive de-
votion, have broached a doctrine, which they maintain with eagerness,
and which seems gcQeral in these provinces, that he was distinct from
all the. Avatars, who had only an ansa, or portion, of his divinity,
while Grishna was the person of Vishnu himself in a human form ;
hence they consider the third Rama, his elder brother, as the eighth
Avatar, invested with an emanation of his divine radiance ; and in
the principal Sanscrit dictionary, compiled about two thousand years
ago, Grishna, Vasad^va, G(5vinda, and other names of the shepherd^
god, are intermixed with epithets of Nai:ayan, or the Divine Spirit All
the Avatars are painted with gemmed Ethiopian or Parthian coronets ;
with rays encircling their heads ; jewels in their ears; two necklaces,
one straight and one pendant, on their bosoms, with dropping gems;
garlands of well disposed many-colored flowers, or collars of pearls,
hanging down below their waists ; loose mantles of golden tissue or dy-
ed silk, embroiilered on their hems with flowens elegantly thrown over
one shoulder, and flolded like ribbands, across the breast; with brace-
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176 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OP
leti, too, on one arm, and on 6ach wrist: they are naked to the Waiats,
and uniformly with dark azure flesh, in allusion, probably, to the tint
of that primordial fluid, on which Nlur&yan moved in the beginning of
time ; but their skirts are bright yellow, the color of the curious peri-
earpium in the centre of the water-lily, where Nature, as Dr. Murray
observes, in some degree discloses her secrets, each seed containing,
before it germinates, a few perfect leaves: they are sometimes drawn
with that flower in one hand ; a radiated elliptical ring, used as a missile
weapon, in a second ; the sacred shell or left handed baccinum, in a
third ; and a mace or battle-axe, in a fourth ; btit Crishna, when he ap-
pe9r8,4is he sometimes does appear, among the Avatars, is more splen-
didly decorated than any, and wears a rich garland of sylvan flowers,
whence he is named VanamUi, as low as his ankles, which are adorn-
ed with strings of pearls. Dark blue approaching to black, which
is the meaning of the word Crishna, is believed to have been his com-
plexion ; and hence the large bee of that col<vr is consecrated to him,
and is oAen drawn fluttering^ over his head : that azure tint, which
approaches to blacknisss, is peculiar, as we have already remarked, to
Vishnu ; and hence, in the great reservoir or cistern at Gatantandu,
the capital of Nepal, there is placed in a recumbent posture a large
well-proportioned image of blue marble, representing N&r&yan boat-
ing on the waters. But let us return to the actions of Crishna, who
was not less heroic than lovely, and, when a boy, slew the terrible
serpent Caliya with a number of giants and monsters : at a more ad-
vanced age, he put to death his cruel enemy Gansa; and, having
taken under his protection the king Yudhisht'hir and the other Pan-
dus, who had been grievously oppressed by the Gums, and their
Qrrannical chief, he kindled the war described in the great epic .poem,
entitled the Mahabh&rat, at the prosperous conclusion of which he re-
turned to his heavenly seat in Vaicontha, having left the instructions
comprised in the Gita with his disconsolate friend Arjun, whose
grandson became sovereign of India.
In this picture it is impossible not to discover, at the first glance,
the feature of Apollo, sumamed Nomios, or the pastoral, in Greece,
and Opifer in Italy, who fed the herds of Admetus, and slew the sei^
pent Python ; a god amorous, beautiful, and warlike : the word Go-
vinda may be literally translated Nomios, as Gesava is Grinitus, or
with fine hair ; but whether Gopala, or the herdsman, has any rela*
tion to Apollo, let our et3rmologists determine. Golonel Vallancey,
whose learned enquiries into the ancient literature of Ireland are high-
ly interesting, assures me, that Crishna m Irish means the sun ; and
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa I77
we find Apollo and Sol considered by the Roman poets as the same
deity."* ' - '
This learned author farther says : ** In the mystical and elevated
character of Pan, as a personification of the Universe, according* to
the notion of Lord Bacon, there arises a sort of similitude between
him and Crishna considered as Nariyan. The Grecian god plays
divinely on his reed, to express, we are told, etherial harmony; he
has his attendant nymphs of the pastures and the dairy ; his face is
as radiant as the sky, and his head illumined with the horns of a cres-
cent; whilst his lower extremities are deformed and shaggy, as a
symbol of the vegetablles, which the earth produces, and of the beasts
who roam over the face of it. Now we may compare this portrait,
pardy with the general character of Crishna, the Shepherd /God, and
partly with the description in the Bhagavat of the Divine Spirit exhib-
ited in the form of this Universal world ; to which we may add the
following story from the same extraordinary poem. The nymphs
had complained to Gasoda, that the child Crishna had been drinking
their curds and milk : on being reproved by his foster-mother for this
indiscretion, he requested her to examine his mouth ; in which, to her
just amazement, she beheld the whole universe in all its plenitude of
magnificence." t '
Sir W. Jones also says, <<I am persuaded, that a connexion sub-
sisted between the old idolatrous nations of Egypt, India, Greece, and
Italy,' long before they migrated to their several settlements, and con-
sequently before the birth of Moses ; but the proof of this proposi-
tion will in no degree afifect the truth and sanctity of the Mosaic his-
tory, which, if confirmation were necessary, it would rather tend to
confirm. The Divine Legate, educated by the daughter of a king»
and in all respecta highly accomplished, could not but know the my-
thological System of Egypt ; but he must have condenmed the super*
stitions of that people, and despised the speculative absurdities of iheir
priests ; though some of their traditions concerning the creation and
the flood were grounded on truth. Who was better acquainted with
the mythology of Athens than Socrates? Who more accurately
versed in the Rabbinical doctrines than Paul ? Who possessed clear-
er ideas of all ancient astronomical systems than Newton, or of scho-
lastic metaphysics than Locke ? In whom could the Romish church
have l^ad a more formidable opponent than in Chillingworth, whose
• Anatic Researches voL I 374 — 378 ; or Sir W. Jones' woiks, vol ill
flbid, 884, 385. . ^
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178 GENUINENESS AND CREDI6ILITT OF
deep knowledge of its tenets rendered him so competent to dispute
them T ' In a word, who more exactly knew the abominable rites and
shocking idolatry of Canaan than Moses himself? Tet the learning
of those great men only incited them to seek other sources of truth*
piety, and virtue, than those in which they had long been immersed.
There is no shadow then of a foundation for an opinion, that Moses
borrowed the first nine or ten chapters of Genesis from the literature
of Egypt ; still less can the adamantine pillars of our Christian faith
be moved by ^e result of any debates on the comparative antiquity
of the Hindoos and Egyptians, or of any enquiries into the Indian
Theology. Very respectable natives have assured me, that one or
two missionaries have been absurd enough, in their zeal for the con»
version of the Geptiles, to urge *that the Hindoos were. even now
almost Christians, because their Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahbsa«
were no other than the Christian TWmVy;' a sentence, in which
we can only doubt, whether folly, ignorance, or impiety predomi-
nates* . The three powers, Creative, Preservative, and Destructive^
which the Hindoos express by the triliterial word 0*m, were grossly
ascribed by the first idolaters to the heat, Hght, zxA flame of their
mistaken divinity, the Sun ; ^d their wiser successors in the East»
who perceived that the sun was only a created thing, applied those
powers to its creator ; but the Indian Triad, and that of Plato, which
he calls the. Supreme Good, the Reason, and the Soul, are infinitely
removed from the holiness and sublimity of the doctrine, which pi«
ous Christians have deduced from texts in the Gospel, though other
Christians, as pious, openly profess their dissent from them. Each
sect must be justified by its own faith and good intentions ; this only
I mean to inculcate, that the tenet of our church cannot without pro-
faneness be compared with that of the Hindoos, which has only an
apparent resemblance to it, but a very different meaning. One sin-
gular fact, however, must not be suffered to pass unnoticed. That
tfie name of Crishna, and the general outline of hii story, were long
anterior to the birth of our Saviour, and probably to the time of Ho-
mer, we know very certainly ; yet the celebrated poem, entitled Bhor
gavat, which contains a prolix account of his life, is filled with nar-
ratives of a most extraordinary kin J, but strangely variegated and in-
termixed with poetical decorations ; the incarnate deity of the San*
scrit romance was cradled, as it informs us, among herdsmen; but it
adds, that he was educated among them, and passed his youth in
playing with a party of milkmaids. A tyrant, at the time of his birth,
ordered all new bom males to be slain; yet this wonderfiil babe was
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUAE8. 17§
preserved hj biting the breast, instead of sucking the poisoned nipple,
of a nurse commissioned to kill him; he performed annaing, but ri*
dicnkras, miracles in his infancy, and, at the age of seven years, held
np a mountain on the tip of his little finger; he saved multitudes,
pardy by his arms and partly by his miraculous powers ; he raised
the dead by descending for tjiat purpose to the lowest regions ; he
was the meekest and best tempered of beings, washed the feet of the
BrahmanSf and preached very nobly, indeed, and sublimely, but al-
ways in their favor ; he was pure and chaste in reality, but exhibited
an appearance of excessive libertinism, and had wives or mistresses
too numerous to be counted ; lastly, he was benevolent and tender,
yet fomented and conducted a terrible war. This motley story must
induce an opinion that the spurious gospels, which abounded in the
first age of Christianity, had been brought to India, and the wildest
parts of them repeated to the Hindoos, who ingrafWd them on the old
fable, of Cesava, the Apollo of Greece." *
Sir W. Jones was a firm believer in the truth and divine authority
of the sacred' Scriptures. But, such was his candor and love of truth
that, if in the course of his researches into the history, antiquities,
sciences, literature, and religion of the Asiatic nations* he, or any
of his fellow-laborers in the same important undertaking, had made
any discoveries unfavorable to the claims of the Scriptures as a Rev-
elation from God, they would most certainly have been published to
the woild. This is evident from a number of passages in his wri-
tings. In the dissertation just quoted from, he holds the following
language ; " I who cannot help believing the divinity of the Messiah
from the undisputed antiquity, and manifest completion of many
prophecies, especially those of Isaiah, in the only person recorded
by history, to whom they are applicable, am obliged, of course, to
believe the sanctity of the venerable books, to which that sacred per-
son refers, as genuine ; but it is not the truth of our national rdigion,
as such, that I have at heart; it is Truth itself; and if any cool un-
biased reader will clearly convince me, that Moses drew his narrative
through Egyptian conduits, from the primeval fountains of Indian lit-
erature, I shall esteem him as a friend, for having weeded my mind ■
from a capital error, and promise to stand among the foremost in as-
sisting to circulate the truth which he has ascertained."
In an address to il^e Asiatic Society, whose researches have just
* Asiatic Researches, vol L pp. 374 — 378; or see Jonas* Woiks, ToLiii. pp.
891— 39fiw . •
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189 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILrrY OF
been mentioned, treating of the result of their labors, he says : «< We
cannot surely deem it an inconsiderable advantage, that all our hbto-
Hcal researches have confirmed the Mosaic account of the primitive
worlds and our testimony on that subject ought to have the greater
weight, because if the^ result of our ob$ervation9 had been totally
different^ we should nevertheless have published themJ*^ *
So far, however, from making such discoveries, the labors of ihii
wonderful man, probably the most learned of modern times, have
most illustriously confirmed the truth of the Scriptures. He did
not discover an identity betwixt Jesus Christ and the Hindoo idd
Crishna ; but as has been seen, he identifies that idol with the Gre-
cian Apollo.
To draw the conclusion from a few and distant resemblances, in
the midst of a chaos of acts, and qualities the most opposite, that
there is a conformity in history and character, is highly unreasonable*
And still more so would it be to believe the identity betwixt Jesus
Christ and this heathen idol, which is affirmed by the Infidel Taylor.
Had this man even stated the truth cohcerning the spellii^ of the
word Crishna, no reliance could hav been placed oa this as a means
of establishing the identity he affirms. This ii evident fixMn the fol*
lowing remarks of Sir W. Jones, and on such a subject no one could
be better prepared to judge. <« Etymology,'* says he, <« has, no doubt,
some use in historical researches ; but it is a medium of proof so very
fidlacious, that, where it elucidates one fact, it obscures a thousand ;
and more frequently borders on the ridiculous, than leads to any solid
eonclusion ; it rarely cairies with it any internal power of conviction
irom a resemblance of sounds or similarity of letters." t But when
not only the names are dissimilar, both in tlieir orthography and
meaning, but also the characters and actions are so diametrically op-
posite, what can be thought of that man, who, with unblushing im-
pudence, attempts to identify with Jesus Christ, an imaginary being
whose principal exploits were those of licentiousness and destruc-
tion, who had several wives, and thousands of concubines, who des-
troyed his own numerous progeny, and who was at last killed by an
arrow?
* Sir W. Jonef, voL ill pp. 208, 209. f Ibid. toL iiL p. 36.
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THE NEW 1*E8TAMENT SCKIPTURES. 181
SECTION III.
Hatino in the most satisfactory manner established the great trath
tiiat Jesus Christ did exist, and, at the period assigned by the writers
of the New Testament ; also that the leading facts in his history did
•ecnr, the Infidel is bound to maintain one of two hypotheses,
either that Jesus Christ, though a good man, was an enthusiastf or,
diat he was a wicked impostor. Accordingly, there are two classes
of Infidels, who (unable to resist the overwhelming testimony by
which his existence, and at the time specified in the sacred writings,
is supported,) maintain, the one the first, and the other the last of
these positions. We will now attend to each of these classes of In*
fidels.
Among American Infidels, who hold that Jesus Christ was a good
man, but an enthusiast, are Mr. Jefierson and Mr. Engli8h.r The lat-
ter wrote a book, entided " The Grounds of Christianity Examinfed,''
in which he holds the following language : « Far be it from me to
reproach the meek and compassionate, the amiable Jesus ; or to attri-
bute to him, the mischiefs occasioned by his followers. No, I look
upon his character with the respect which every man should pay to
purity of morals, though mingled with something like sentiments,
which we naturally feel for the mistaken enthusiast.*^ Again he
says : *< There was nothing which gave the author so much uneasi*
ness, as the apprehension of being supposed to entertain disrespect-
ful sentiments of the Founder of the Christian religion. I would
most eamesdy entreat the reader to believe my most solemn assuran-
ces, that by nothing I have said, or shall be under the necessity of
saying, do I think, or mean to intimate the slightest disparagement to
the moral character of one, whose purity of morals, and good inten-
tions, deserve anything else but reproach. That he was an enthusi-
ast I do not doubt ; that he was a willful impostor I never will be-
lieve."
The same author further says : ** Jesus of Nazareth appears to
have been a man of irreproachable purity, of great piety, and of great
mildness of disposition. Though the world has never beheld a char- '
acter exactly parallel with his, yet it has aeen many greatly similar,
contemplative and melancholy : it i» said of him by his followers,
' he was often seen to weep, but never to laugh.' He retired to soli-
tary places, and there prayed ; he went into the wilderness to sustain
and there vanquish the devil. ' In a word, he appears by such i
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183 GENUINENE8S AND CREDIBILITY OF
to have persuaded himself, as hundreds have done since, that he '
tlie chosen servant of God, raised up to preach righteousness to the
hypocrites and sinners of his day. It is remarkable that he never
ebdmed to be the Messiah, till encouraged to assume that character by
Peter's declaration. And it is observable, that, in assuming thai
name, he could not assume the characteristics of the august personage
to whom it belonged ; but infused into the character all that soAness,
meekness, humility and passive fortitucle which were so eminently his
own. The natural disposition, and character of Jesus, would not
permit him to attempt the character of a princely Messiah, a, mighty
monarch, the Saviour of an oppressed people, and the benefiEu^r of
the human race. He could not do this ; but he could act as much of
the character as was consistent with his own. He could not indeed
bring himself to attempt to be the Saviour of his countrymen from
the Romans, their flesJdy foea ; but he undertook to save them from
the tyranny of their spiritual*enemies. He could not undertake to set
np his kingdom tgnm earth ; but he told them that he had a kingdom
in another world. He could not pretend to give unto his followers
the splendid rewards of an earthly monarch ; but he promised them
instead thereof, /or^v^e^s of Hnty and spiritual remuneration.^^
Having fully and fairly stated the position of Mr. English, it ^
hooves us now to show that Jesus Christ was not a miitaken en/Atisi-
OMt, Before we proceed, however, it may be necessary to notice the
statement, <«that he (Jesus) never claimed to be the Messiah, till
encouraged to assume that character by Peter's declaration." To
this it is replied, that so far from Jesus Christ being influenced by
Peter's declaration publicly to assume the character of the Messiah ;
upon its being mad^, he charged his disciples that they should tdl
no man that he was the Christ or the Messiah.*
How did Mr. English arrive at the conclusion that Jesus Christ was
an enthusiast T The only process by which he could have formed
this judgment must have been by an examination of his words and
actions. By the same process it is maintained the candid and honest
enquirer must come to the opposite conclusion.
In the sense in which the term is ^ere used, an enthusiast signifies
a person, who through an impression on the fancy, or an agitation of
the passions, of which he can give no rational account, is led to sup-
pose that he has some remarkable intercourse with the Deity.
* Matt zri. SO. By refemng to Dr. Clarke'f comment on the punge, the
reader wffl aae that the word JeauB, which appear^ in our Ycnion, ihoiild have been
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURta 188
Do the words of Jesus Christ indicate that he was an enthusiast?
Mr. English himself acknowledges ttie purity of his morals : what
is more, he says : «* they deserve any thing else hut reproach/' that
is, they are worthy of our admiration. How did he judge of the moi^
als of Jesus Christ ? from his words, as recorded hy the evangelists T
Indeed, with one solitary exception, (Mr. Olpisted,) aD Infidels df
whom the writer has any knowledge, concede that no code of morals
has ever heen promulgated at all to he compared with that of Jesus
Christ. And as it is easy to distinguish between the wild ravings
of an enthusiast, and the words of truth and soberness ; we leave
the reader to decide whether the following words of Jesus Christ,
bear such an impression upon them, as to justify the conclusion, that
their author was a mistaken enthusiast. «« Blessed are the poor in
spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn : for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek : for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness : for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merci-
ful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart : for
they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers : lor they shall be
called the children of God. Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,'ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was
said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery : but I sqr
unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust aher her, hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart Ye have heard that
it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy :
But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you ; that ye may be the children of your Father
which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust For if ye
love them which love you, what reward have you ? do not even the
publicans the same ? And if ye salute yoyr brethren only, what do
ye more than others ? do not even the publicans so ? Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Take
heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : other-
wise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. There-
fore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they
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184 GENUINENESS AND CBEDIBIUTY OF
may have glory of men. Verily I say unto yon, they have their
reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret: and thy
Father which seeth in secret^ himself shall reward thee openly. Bnt
thou, when thou prayest, enter into diy closet, and when thou hasi
shut thy door, pray to. thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for
yourself treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, tod
where thieves break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal. Judge not, that ye be
not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged :
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to yon again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in diy brother's eye, but
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Or how wilt thou
say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; Ani
behold a beam is in thine own eye T Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even sa every good tree bringeth forth
good frujt; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit ' Wherefore, by
their firuits ye shall know them. Not every one thatsaith unto me,
Lovd, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which b in heaven.* Thou shalt love the Lord
Ihy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like
nnto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two com-
mandments hang all the law and the prophets, t Ye call me Master
and Lord ; and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and
Master, have washed your feet, ye ought to wash one another's feet ;
lor so I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done
nnto you. | A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one
another; as I .have loved you, that. ye also love one another. By
diis shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another." |
Such were the words of Jesus, the precepts inculcated by him who
daimed to be the Messiah. Their spotless purity is manifest to all;
th^ir intrinsic value approves itself to every head and to every heart.
And so far from these saying^ discovering the smallest tincture of en-
•MattT.vlTiL tl^*3^^^— ^- tJohnxiiLlS. 15. f lb. ziii. 84, 8ft.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 186
Ausuumi, they indicate a calm* dignified, and heavenly strain of mor-
ality. • Here are no jarring incongruities; no undae elevation of one
moral virtne; no unreasonable depression of another. But everything
is in its right place ; the whole is perfect harmony. These precepts
embrace all that was really good in the ethics of the heathen s^es*
The scattered fragments of moral truth, which original Revelation, (if
the Infidel object to this) or the labor and study of philosophers have
dispersed up and down the world, are found comprehended in the
moral code of Jesus Christ. Tnfth, justice, fortitude, integjrity, faith*
fulness, chastity, benevolence, friendship, forbearance, forgiveness of
injuries, and whatever else is praiseworthy, have all their proper
place, but cleansed of all base admixtures, directed to their proper
ends, and clothed with that authority iiecessary to sway the con-
science. Then the standard of moral duty is so high, yet so reasona-
ble, and, at the same time, so obviously agreeable to the sovereignty
of the ever blessed Creator j that^so far from giving indications that its
anthor was a ** miataken entktmasU^^ it clearly proves the truth of
that saying ** Never man spake like this man.^* Had Jesus Christ
been a mistaken enthusiast, he would have inculcated those useless
austerities, and appalling self-macerations, which in all ages and
countries, Fanaticism has proposed as the surest mode of propitiating
the Deity ; and the tendency of his system would have been to mo-
roseness, melancholy, and misanthropy. But lus code is founded on
humility and self-denial, laying man low, and giving him a just im*
pression of his unworthtness before God and man ; and then by
teaching him to deny all ungodliness* and worldly Ittst, it fixes the on-
ly firm foundation of consistent morality ; whiicr at the same time, it
falls into no foolish nor absurd injunctions ; and its tendency is to
render those who are governed by it, pure, lovely and self-denying,
friendly, tender-hearted, and full of all ^e social and domestic afiec-
tions and sympathies. Therefore in no part of the recorded language
of Jesus Christ can we discover the slightest vestige of a wild enthu-
siasm.
Mr. English infers that Jesus was an enthusiast from his conduct :
** He was contemplative and melancholy." The greatest men that
have ever lived, and have been the benefactors of mankind, have been
** contemplative." But Mr. English adds, he was melancholy. How
did he learn this ? ** It is said of him by his followers, * jie was oft-
en seen to weep, but never to laugh.' " But the only authentic in*
formation we have is contained in the New Testament Scriptures, and
there we find no such statement* And by adducing such authority it
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186 GBNUIffEIfE88 AND CREDIBILIT7 OF
is evident Mr. E. was hard pressed to support his siakinf
To reach the truth, the character of Jesus Christ is to be estimated*
not from unfounded traditions, or the statements of spurious writings,
hut from the authentic records of the Apostles and Evangdists. And
in them no actions are recorded, which indicate that Jesus was a mis-
taken enthusiast
Had he been such, he would have been inflated with high Botions
of his divine commission, and he would have viewed with indigna-
tioii the subjection to the Romans, of the people whom he believed
himself appointed to deliver ; under the influence of such views and
feelings, when the captious question was proposed to him as to flie
legality of the Jews pa3ring tribute to Cesar, he would boldly have
declared the deed unlawful; and he would have enjoined either a sul-
len refusal, or a bold resistance by force of arms* But- when he had
inspected the imperial effigies which marked the tax money, he said :
" Render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's, and unto God the
things that are God's." * This reply, so far from afibrding an indica-
tion that he was a mistaken enthusiast, evinces the greatest prudence,
and consummate wisdom, for thereby he neithec exposed himself to
die anger of the Jews by controverting one of their favorite maipms,
nor compromised himself with the Roman government by declaring
that tribute ought tiot to be paid.
So likewise when another question was proposed by die Sadducees,
which, as they supjposed, reduced the doctrine of a future state to an
absurdity ; " Master," say they, <* Moses said. If a man die, having
no children, his brother shall many his wife, and raise up seed unto
his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers ; and the first,
when he had married a wife, deceased ; and having no issue, lef^ his
wife unto his brother ; likewise the second also, and the thmi, unto
the seventh, and last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the
resuirection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had
her."t To this, without the smallest hesitation, he gave a calm and
rational reply, of which a mistaken enthusiast would have been ut-
terly incapable. << Te do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the
power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as
touching the insurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which
was spoken unto you, by Gk>d, saying: God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living ? " t
•MattxiiL tl. t><>^^°^^^^-^* tKsttxzi. S9u-3t.
S
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBEa 187
An enthofliast bdieyin^ himtelf to be the immediate favorite of
lieaven, is iisttally confident of Tictory* and when attacked is prone to
repel violence by violence. But wh^n one of the disciples of Jesos
Christ wounded one of the servants of the high priest, he ordered
him to forbear, condemned all violence, and declared the fate of all
those who should draw the sword in resistance of constituted author-
ity ; and, at the same time, intimated how needless such an act was,
were he himself disposed to crush hi^ enemies : <* Put up again thy
sword into its place ; for all they that take the sword, shall perish
with the sword. Thiukest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and
he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? But
how then shall the S<^riptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be." *
Enthumasts are prone to imagine that those who impiously reject;
what to ttiem appears the undeniable will of heaven, deserve no mer^
oy; therefore, such enforce their doctrines by fire and sword. But
Jesus Christ pursued a course the very reverse of this. When he
sent forth his disciples, he said to them : *< As ye go, preach, saying :
The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Freely ye have received, freely
give. Behold, I send you fcnrth as sheep, in the midst of wolves."
And when two of his disciples would fain have called down fire from
heaven upon a Samaritan village, which had refused him admission^
he rebuked them for their violence, and informed them that they litfle
knew what spirit they were of; <*The Son of Man," said he, **is not
come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." t
Let us examine the character of Jesus Christ in other respects, as
Indicated in his actions, that we may be enabled to decide whether
such an one could be a mistaken enthusiast
His character was calm, composed ; there was in it a freedom from
violent emotions, an abstinence from excitement and disturbance.
His emotions were those of benevolence, compassion, and abhorrence
of sin. These, on all occasions, overpowered the inferior passions,
and so far f;rom indicating enthusiasm or insincerity, were directly in
contrast with them. He was precisely what the Son of God should
be, and in all respects he acted just as the founder of Christianity
should have done. His manner of acting was new, not the product
of external circumstances, nor according to the taste of the age, and
the sympathies of the Jews. They expected a temporal deliverer;
they were restive under the Roman yoke. They viewed the Heath-
ens, the Samaritans, the Publicans, and the Nazarenes with contempt
^Ifatt xxri 61— M. fLiike ix. 66.
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188 .GENUINENKSS AND CREDIBILITY OF
His disciples themselves were under the inflnenee of these impres-
sions. Bat Jesus was infinitely above tkem all ; he formed his own
projects, he conceived the design of a new and universal religion ; he
acted upon that design, and, although there was not one to sympa-
thize with him, in the calm persuasion of the success of his underta-
king, though all appearances were against it, he possessed his soul
in patience. The prejudices of the Jews, their expectation of a tem-
poral Messiah ; the powers, the authority, and the intellectual habits
of the whole world, were all arrayed against his undertaking. Tet
he never betrayed a doubt of the ultimate success of his design.
There was nothing in his birth, education, and associations to elevate
him above all these things. His own death must intervene before the
accomplishment of his vast and noble design ; he perceived it, he
foretold it, and he calmly described the acts of violence by yrhich, to
all human appearance, all his prospects were to be blasted. Do these
indications betray the mistaken enthusiast? Nay, rathisr is it not im-
possible for language to convey the impression of the character of
Jesus, when we behold him under all circumstances, inspired and fill-
ed with his mighty plan for the salvation of mankind, eyer conscious
that he sustained a relation to the whole human race !
Mr. English concludes that Jesus was a mistaken frUhuaiast, be-
caiise he retired to solitary pieces, and there prayed. It is joyfully
conceded he prayed, yea, on more than one occasion, he spent the
whole night in supplication. And although he had no sin to confess,
no corrupt nature to subdue, he was habitual and fervent in devotion.
Every great act of his life was preceded by prayer. When he mul-
tiplied the five loaves and two fishes, for the supply of Ave thousand
persons, he looked up to heaven, and blessed them. When he ap-
proached the grave of Lazarus he solenmly prayed. He taught his
disciples to pray ; and that prayer for brevity, fuUness of meaning,
suitableness, and sin^plicity, is a perfect model, and stands unrivalled.
So far as can be judged from the narratives of the evangelists, he
kept up continual intercourse with his heavenly Father. Just before
his agony, and when he was about to be separated from his disciples,
we are presented with a specimen of his prayers, the most sublime
and deeply affecting, exhibiting. the most elevated devotion, and, at
the same time, perfect calmness and self-possession. This is not all ;
but when nailed and naked on the cross, a spectacle of ignominy and
woe, he prayed. The purity and innocence of his life are in accord-
ance with his elevated devotion, a perfect illustration of the precept*
he inculcated. And so forcible is this argument, that the Infidel who
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SdaPTURBS. |80
refiises to acknowledge his claims as the Son of God, is constrained
to bow before his perfect purity. This the contemporaries of the
apostles acknowledged ; this the modem Infidels acknowledge ; Ghub«
Bolingbroke, Hobbes, Jefferson, English, yea even Paine himself
stands mnte before the lovely and unspotted character of Jesus Christ*
Olmsted alone dares, with a face of brass, to accuse the Saviour
of guilty men with immorality. His love of contemplation and con-
tinual devotion, in connection with the spotless purity of his morals,
so far from indicating that he was a mistaken enthusiast, exhibit him
just as the founder of Christianity should be. Can any indications
of enthusiasm be discovered in any of his prayers which are preserv-
ed in the Scriptures ? Take, for example, his prayer on the cross.
How would a mistaken enthusiast have acted when nailed by the
hands and feet on that tree, writhing with pain «nd agony ; an object
of scorn, derision, and contempt to all areund ? Would not such an
one, in the bitter agony of his soul, have imprecated the vengeance
of the Almighty upon his blood-thirsty and cruel murderers ? But
listen to the prayer of Jesus, << Father, forgive them, for they
KNOW not what they do ! " Mr. English would cheat his readers
into the belief, that he, who when nailed and naked on the cross utter^
ed this wonderful prayer, which is a perfect illustration of his own
precept, ^* forgive your enemies^*^ was a mistaken enthusiast
How much more correctly did the Infidel Rousseau judge ! Hear
him ; << It is impossible that he, whose history the Gospel records,
can be but a mere man. Does he speak in the tone of an enthusiast,
or of an ambitious sectary ? What mildness ! what purity in his man-
ners ! what touching graces in his instructions ! what elevation in his
maxims ! what presence of mind ! what ingenuity, and what justice
in his answers ! what government of his passions ! What prejudice,
what blindness or ill faith, must that be which dares io compare the
son of Sophroniscus, with the son of Mary !, What a difference be-
tween the two ! Socrates d3ring without pain, without disgrace, easily
sustains his part to the last. The death of Soccates, philosophizing
with his friends, is the mildest that could be desired; that of Jesus,
expiring in torments, injurefd, mocked, cursed by ail the people, is the
most horrible that can be feared. Socrates, taking the impoisoned
cup, blesses him who presents it to him with tears. Jesus, in the
midst of a frightful punishment, prays for his enraged executioners.
Tes, if the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage ; the life and
death of Jesus are those of a God."
It would be no difficult task to adduce many other evidences to
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190 GENUINENEdS AND CREBIBILrrT OF
prove the perfect freedom of Jesus Christ from entfaosiann. But
those aheady given are deemed sufficient And it must b^ ccmceded
by every candid mind, that no mark of fanaticism can be exhibited
against him. To urge that his claiming to be a prophet sent from
God, is a mark of fanaticism, is a complete begging of the question.
If it were proved that Jesus Christ was vot sent from God, it is
agreed that his daim of a divine commission, made under a full im-
pression of the propriety of it, would be sufficient proof that he was
an enthusiast. But, on the other hand, if it be proved that he really
did come from God, then such a claim would be no proof whatever.
Therefore the Infidel cannot legitimately bring this daim as a pnx^
that Jesus Christ was an enthusiast, until he shall first have proved
that he was not sent from God. Were this done, it would be a strong
proof. But until it is effected, it is no proof at alL
Thus have we shown that Jesus Christ was not, as is asserted by
Mr. English, a mistaken enthusiast, and, were this 'the proper place,
various mattersi and very difficult to be accounted for by the Infidet
could be adduced to strengthen the argument We refer to the pre-
dictions concerning the Messiah, which, upon the fullest evidence,
we have already proved, were in existence long anterior to the birth
of Christ, and which most manifestly found their accomplishment in
him. But to dwell upon this subject here would be to anticipate the
subjept, therefore we pass on.
Having vindicated the character of Jesus Chris) from enthusiasm,
or frinaticism, the only refuge of the Infidel now is to maintain the
hypothesis that he was a toicked impostor. And this is the ground
occupied by Mr. Olmsted, whom, therefore, in the next section, we
will again introduce to the reader.
SECTION IV.
Mr. Olmsted attempts to show that thd fifry-third chapter of Isa-
iah did not find its accomplishment in Jesus Christ, and, in that con-
nection, he charges him with being an impostor. To give the whole
passage would lead to a discussion on the fulfillment of the prophecy,
which here would be out of place. Therefore we select only a suf-
ficient portion of it to enable the reader to understand the nature of
his hypothesis, and what he conceives to be the proofs which support
it, omitting, however, the worst portions, his low ribaldry and blas-
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 191
phemy, which add no strength to his afgument, but would shock the
feelings of our Christian readers.
Of Jesus Christ this author says : ** At the close of his life, he is
represented as endeavoring to overthrow the established government
His career may have beeir very inconsistent and improper, but not
uncommon. We are frequently obliged to wait to the end of the
play, before we can ascertain the characters of the dramatis-persone.
* * * Cromwell commenced his career as. a stickler for the ri^^ts
of conscience— a religious enthusiast. He closed if in the chair of
his murdered king. Bonaparte in.*93 could vociferate, vive la rqndh
lique. In fifteen years thereaAer, more than half of the civilized
world were shouting vive Vernpertur to him. The deceiver or hypo-
crite, is so common a character, that the expressions, to preach is one
thing, and to practicQ is another. • « • We judge of men, not
from the first, but the last scene ; not from what they say, but from
what they do. Upon these principles, the real character of Jesus
is to be determined from his conduct, during the last few days of
his life.
When we take into consideration the part he bore in this unlawful
assembly of the people, (alluding to the triumphant entry into Jem-
salem) his approbation of their shouts, and his trespass on the mo-
ney brokers, our opinions concerning him must be far* from favorable.
When we extend that consideration to the excuses or defences ha
made before the peo{>le and Pilate, he becomes an object of loatUng
and contempt. The first is bottomed on the false assumption that
the court of the Gentiles was holy ground; and the other, on the ne-
cessity of this pageant as a prelude to his coronation in heaven.
The closing scene of this drama, when rightly considered, adds
force to my charge against the apostles.
I had intended to rest this case here, but as the charge of treason
and rebellion is somewhat starding, I have thought proper to support
it by other statements firom the evangelists. They tell us that Jesus
setit out his disciples, (eighty-two of them, according to Luke,) to
preach to the Jews only. They were to proclaim, that a kingdom,
styled by these writers a kingdom of heaven, was near at hand. It
is immaterial wnat they called it It is evident the disciples under-
stood it to be a temporal kingdom. This point is conceded. The
twelve disciples returned from their missionary tour, and afWr their
return, we find them quarreling about precedence in this kingdom.
Could it have been a spiritual kingdom t
It being conceded that these disciples firmly believed until his
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i02 GENUINENESS AND CEDIBILrrY OP
death that their leader was about to establish a temporal kingdoniy il
follows, first : That they must have taken up this impression from his
eonduct and conversation. Second : That their hosannas, or huzzas,
when he made his grand entry, were to hiooi as a temporal king.
Third t That instead of preaching, as is generally supposed, spiritual
matters, these disciples, afler receiving their commission, acted the
part of recruiting officers, under their chief; for they must have un»
derstood this commission as authorizing and requiring them to draw
up and enlist partisans for this kingdom. And can it be supposed
they did not execute this commission as they understood it; or that
Jesus was not aware, how they understood it, and how they were 6X«
ecuting it ?
< After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and
sent them two and two before his face, into every diy and plaeif
whither he him$elf would coms.'-^Luke x. 1.
The passover week was the time when, and Jerusalem the place
where, these recruits were to assemble from the different cantons of
Judea, to strike the decisive blow. Previous to this feast, Jesus took
a circuit through these cantons. His partisans previously enlisted,
flocked to his standard ; their numbers rapidly increased as he ap-
IMToached the capitd— on leaving Jericho, so numerous was the host*
and so great the press to see him, as he passed along the road, that
men of low stature were obliged to climb trees in order to get a view
of him. Blind men startled at. the tramp of this epirUual army, cried
out, * what is this !* and were told that * Jesus of Nazareth passeth
by.' As these multitudes (for Matthew says a great midtitude ki'
lowed him out of Jericho) drew nigh to Jerusalem, Jesus sent for a
eolt in order to make his entry in style. John says, that as these
multitudes drew nigh to Jerusalem, ' much people that were come to
the feast, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him,
and cried, Hosanna, Blessed is the King of Israel^ that cometh in the
name of the Lord. *^
This entry has been described. Will any man be so blind, as not
to see the object of all this ' Will he sufier that spiritual jargon — that
medley of rant, and devotion of humility, and extravagance of pre-
tension, of empyricism, mysticism, and soothsaying, with which the
evangelists have interlarded their accounts of this insurrection, to
deprive him of his common sense ? Will he be so downright a fool,
as not to see, that if Jesus and his party had not been thwarted, the
Roman power in Judea would have been subverted, and he crowned
king t Can he be so stupid, as to believe, that Deity required of a
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUREa |98.
son, a temporal crown, as a passport to the courts above ? Most he
not see the absurdity and ridiculousness of the defence which is put
into the mouth of Jesus, when arraigned before the Roman governor,
* I admit that this looks very much like rebellion, but nothing of the
kind is intended. I merely wish to be proclaimed, and if possible,
crowned king of the Jews, not diat I want to subvert your authority,
or govern heft for a single moment : I am to rule in heaven ; but some-
how it is so fixed, that I must go through the ceremony of a corona*
tion here, and be acknowledged king by this multitude of JewSf before
I can take my seat on my celestial throne. Tou are still to be the
ruler of the Jews, I their heavenly king?' This is the only defence
he could make, and is in truth the one his Gentile partisans at this
day make for him.
The Romans sent out a cohort of five hundred armed men, to as-
sist the proper officers in arresting Jesus. Could he then have been
a common malefactor ? Does not the employment of this military
force, show that he must have had, a strong party at his back ? Pray
tell us for what he was arrested, tried, and executed t^ Can you make
the world believe that a Roman governor would send out a regiment
of armed men to arrest a meek and lowly, despised and rejected indi-
vidual, and try, and convict, and then execute him, nlerely because
he difiered from the Jews, in some points of doctrine ; those Jews,
whom this same Roman governor despised, and whose religion he
held in contempt?
No doubt, Jesus would gladly have gathered Jerusalem under his
wings. Spiritual wings say you ! Riding at the head, or in the
midst of this noisy procession, was a most singular position for im-
parting spiritual instruction. Whyi if his object was not revolution
and usurpation, did he not inform this multitude of followers, that
were cheering and proclaiming him king, that they were laboring
under a great mistake— 'to use a westemism, barking up the wrong
tree ?
These questions cannot be answered, nor the foregoing conclusions
be avoided, but by a denial of the facts on which they are founded.
Tou may take either horn of the dilemma. If you admit the facts, I
impale you on the inferences. A denial of them is equally fatal.
That the statements on which the charge of rebellion is founded,
are irreconcilable with other statements of the evangelists, I admit*
^he betrayal of Jesus by Judas, is a most absurd tale, and wholly
irreconcilable with the previous history of Jesus, as given by his
biographers. In what particulars could Judas have betrayed Mm ?
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IM OENtJINENE8S AND CREDIBILITY OF
He could not have diiclosed to the. proper audiorities, the crime far
which he was cracified— publicity being its main git — a secret tnmnlt
or sedition, being a contradiction, in terms. He could not have be-
trayed him, by identifying or pointing him oat to those sent in quest
of him ; for his person must have been familiar to almost every inhab-
itant of Judea, and particularly to the citizens of Jerusalem, to whom
he had but a few days before exhibited himself, as the leader of a
tumultuous throng, bent on the overthrow of the existing government.
He could not have betrayed him by directing the sheriff and his posse,
to the place of his concealment ; for he was arrested in a public gar«
den, and boasted that he had not skulked. Be pleased to suggest any
other particulars in which he could have been betrayed.
His remaining in Jerusalem unmolested, for several day^ zSier the
commission of the crime for which he was executed, and exhibiting
himself in the temple, are wholly inexplicable. Such inconsistency
of statement would discredit any other author.**
Here then we have the charge, that the object of Jesus Christ was
treason and rebellion, therefore; according to Mr. Olmsted, Jesus
was a designing impostor. We will now investigate this charge. It
is conceded at the outstart, that during the whole period of the Jewish
history, such tempting invitations to the projects of a designing im*
poster, never presented themselves, as did, at the time, when Jesus of
Nazareth app^red before them, as a teacher sent from God. The
Jews believed themselves to be superior to all the other nations of the
earth, and exulted in the character of being the peculiar people of
God. At the period in question, they were under the Roman yoke,
which they bore with extreme impatience and dissatisfaction. They
had also a high expectation, not only of being enabled to throw off thai
yoke, but of obtaining the empire of the worid, through the agency of
an illustrious prince, they expected to appear among them. This ex*
pectation was founded on their interpretation of some of their ancient
prophecies. But more particularly upon their calculation of the num*
bers specified in the following prediction : ** While I was speaking in
prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the
beginning, being caused to fly swifUy, touched me about the time of the
evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said,
O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
At the beginning of thy supf^lications, the commandment came forth,
and I am ^me to shew thee ; for thou art greatly beloved ; therefore
understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks aie
determined upon thy people, and upon thy ,holy dQr, to finish the
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTUBBa 105
transgreMion and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliatioa
for iniquity, and to bring in everiasting righteousnest, and to seal up
the Tision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know
therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the command*
ment, to restore an^ build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince,
ihall be seven weeks, three score and two weeks/' *
That this expectation, at that time, obtained among the Jews, is
confirmed by Suetonius and Tacitus, the Roman historians. The for*
mer attributes to this, the war which resulted in the destruction of ,
Jerusalem, by Titus. He says : *« There had been for a long timcy
all over the east, a prevailing opinion, that it was in the fates (in the
decrees or book of the fates) that at that time, some one from Judea
should obtain the empire of the world. By the event it appeared
that a Roman emperor was meant by that prediction. The Jews
applying it to themselves,, went into a rebellion." The latter, treat-
ing of the same war, says : **'The most (of the Jews) bad a strong
persuasion that it was said in the ancient writings of the priests
(that is, in the ancient .writings in the custody of the priests) that,
at that very time, the east should prevail, and that some who ciame
from Judea, should obtain the empire of the world." Again the same
author says: «*The common people, according to the usual influ*
ence of human passions, having once appropriated to themselves this
vast grandeur of the fates, could not be brought to understand the
true meaning by all their adversities." That this expectation was gen-
erally prevalent among the Jews, is also stated in the New Testament
Scriptures. Of Anna, the prophetess, after having beheld the infant
Jesus, and acknowledged him as the promised Deliverer, Luke informs
us that, ** she spake of him to all them that looked for deliverance in
Jerusalem." Indeed,- this expectation, at that period, not only pre*
vailed among the Jews, and influenced them to engage in the war
with the Romans, but was the main cause of that obstinacy which
resulted in their destruction. Josephus informs us, that many impos*
tors confidendy taught the people, that they might expect assistance
from heaven ; and one of them, in their last extremity, delivered to
them a pretended message from Almighty God, commanding them to
go immediately up to the temple, and, at the same time, assuring
them that they would there receive an infallible proof of his divine
favor and protection.
Such being the state of the public mind among the Jews, about the
• Dan, ix. 24—37.
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196 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
period when Jeaus of Nazareth appeared among them, it is eyident
that a politico-theological impostor could not have desired a more
favorable season for the practice of an imposition. The field was in a
manner prepared to his hand, the nation was ripe for his reception-
All that was necesssary to ensure success among his countrymen was
a sufficient degree of worldly policy to enable him to avail himself of
the already existing circumstances. The leading motives of such an
one, as mu^t be obvious to every person of reflection, would be his
own honor and aggrandizement ; for no impostor ever did, or possibly
could act upon other than selfish motives.
This is not the place to discuss the correctness of the Jewish inter-
pretation of the ancient prophecies concerning the Messiah, but it is
notorious that that interpretation was literal and gross. They there*
fore, confidently expected that when this illustrious, and long looked
for personage would appear among them, he would be a mighty tem-
poral prince^ who would break the Roman yoke, at their head subdue
all their enemies, and give them the empire of the world. Therefore,
an impostor, upon the supposition t&at he possessed ordinary discre-
tion, would have availed himself of the then exbting erroneous notions
respecting the Messiah, whom he would personate. It is unreasona-
Ue to suppose that such an one would have acied diflferendy ; for he
could not but perceive, that to efiect his object, it would be indispena-
ably necesssary to appear in the character anticipated' by the Jews.
Therefore, he would avail himself of all their preconceptions, the nat-
ural and obvious tendency of which was to promote the aggrandize-
ment of an interested adventurer.
This being admitted, it is evident that an impostor, if not destitute
of common sense, having first prepared the way by a judicious ar-
rangement with some trusty friends, would proclaim himself to be the
iUustrious personage so long looked /or; he would call upon the
whole nation to arise and seek assured victory under their heavenly
commissioned leader. The Pharisees being exceedingly popular
among the people, and exercising great influence over them, he would
endeavor to win to his intercHt. And to, e fleet this, he would flatter
them by a decorous approbation of their specious piety. The Saddu-
eees also possessed considerable influence, therefore, be would pre-
sent to them the hopes of enjoying those temporal blessings, by which
alone they could be enticed to enlist under bis standard. And the
whole nation he would entice by flattering their national pride, by
coinciding with them in all their views and prejudices, and by con-
firming their every expectation.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 8CBIFTURB& 197
Of the Messiah it was predicted that he woald have regal power.
Therefore, he would claim to be king of Israel ; and that this claim
tnight be recognized by all, he would seek to ingratiate himself with
the chief men of the country. He would induce them to accept offi-
ces under him, and he would make wise and diligent preparations to
resist the Roman armies when they should be brought against him«
Every' person of common sense must at once perceive th^ an im-'
postor who, during the ^ reign of Tiberius, wished to play the part of
the Messiah would have been certain to have taken the measures just
stated. Absolute matter of fact proves' this estimate to be just ; for
during the reign of Adrian, about A. D. 132, the Jews, broken as
they had been by the destruction of Jerusalem in the war under Titus,
under the belief that Barchochebas was their long ezp^ted Messiah,
they again rebelled. This impostor, whose real name was Coziba,
(in allusion to the prophecy of Balaam respecting the Messiah,
** There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of
Israel,*' ^.*) assumed the tide of Barchochebas, or the son of the star.
Owing to these perverted notions of the character and design of the
mission of the Messidi, the infatuated Jews readily acknowleged his
claims. Upon which he engaged to d^liver them from the Roman
yoke, and to restore the nation to its ancient liberty and glory. By
the famous Rabbi Akibha, who had been chosen by him as his pre-
cursor, he was publicly anointed, a diadem was placed on his head,
as king of the Jews, and money was coined in his name. All the
descendants of Abraham were called upon to assist the hope of Israel,
and an army of two hundred thousand men rallied to his standard,
and among them Akibha himself at the head of twenty thousand of
his disciples.
If Jesus had beea an impostor, he would have been certain to have
acted as Ooziba aid : and when the circumstances of the Jews under
Tiberius are contrasted with their condition under Adrian, his pros-
pects of success must have 'been far more flattering than those of
Goziba possibly could have been.
But we behold Jesus pursuing a line of conduct, not only directly
opposite to that of Goziba, but also to that which an impostor similar-
ly circuipstanced must have adopted. He claimed to be a teacher
sent from God. And in perfect conformity to that character, in his
sermon on the mount, he vindicates tl^e moral law from the false
glosses of the Jewish Doctors, and gives such an exhibition of its
• Num. xriT. 17.
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198 GENUINENESS AND CBEBIBIUTr OF
precepts at filled his hearers with astonishment, and to the present
day excites the admiration of every nnoontaminated mind. Daring
the whole period of his puhlic ministry he uniformly acted in strict
conformity with this character, publicly exposing the false teachings
and evil practices of the Pharisees, the pc^ular teachers of the Jew-
ish nation, bat in direct opposition to the. part which would have been
acted by an impostor, who, for his own aggrandizement, designed to
incite the Jews to throw off the Roman yoke.
Such an adventurer could have had no hope of success, but by
adopting a system of dexterous conciliation towards all the higher and
more in^uential classes among the Jews. Therefore, had Jesus been
an impostor, he would have studiously flattered all their prejudices,
and so far from exposing the fallacy of any of their doctrines, or
the sinfulness of their practices, for the purpose of farthering his
project, he would have highly commended the one, and conformed
to the other. But instead of acting on these obvious principles, he
pursued a course, which, while it was in strict accorduice with his
character as a teacher sent from God, for an impostor was so extraor-
dinary, that in a very short period he most effectually alienated all the
ruling powers, and rendered them his most virulent and bitter en-
emies.
Is it to be supposed that an impostor, whose prospect of success
altogether depended upon the co-operation of the higher and more
influential classes of the Jews, provided he possessed the smallest de-
gree of common sense, would think of effecting his purpose by pub-
licly controverting their favorite opinions— by unceremoniously ex-
posing their hypocrisy, by exposing to the people, and in their un-
disguised deformity, their corrupt practices, and by stigmatizing them-
selvesL in- the severest terms, as corrupt and contemptible! But diis
was the line of conduct adopted by Jesus Christ, and which he uni-
formly adhered io. Hear his language, addressed to the very men on
whose co-operation his success depended, provided he was a selfish
impostor. Why do ye also transgress the commandment of Qod by
your tradition? For God commanded, saying. Honor thy fathei^ and
mother : and He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
But ye say. Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother. It is a
gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; and honor not
his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the
commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye h3rpo-
crites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying. This people draweth
nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips ; but
1
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SOBIPTURES. 199
their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teach-
itag for doctrines the commandments of men.* And be it noticed that
these cutting reproofs were administered, not merely in private, bat
in the presence of the multitudes who had long been deceired by the
Pharasaic piety of these men. Hear how he publicly and openly
cautioned the people against their long venerated teachers: «<The
Scribes and Pharisees,'' said Jesus to the multitudes tha^ surrounded
him, *' sit in Moses' seat: All therefore, whatsoerer they bid you ob-
serve, that observe and do : but do not ye aAer their works ; for they
say and do not For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be
borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not
move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do
for to be seen of men : they make bcoad their phylacteries, and en-
large the borders of their garments, and love theuppermost rooms at
feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the
markets, and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi. Wo unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretence make long prayer : therefore ye shall receive the
greater damnation. Woe unto yoif, scribes and Pharisees, h3rpocrites !
for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is
made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides ! which say, whosoever shall swear by
the temple, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of
the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools, and blind! for whether is
greater, the gold, or the temple that sahctifieth the gold? And who-
soever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing ; but whosoever sweareth
by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind ! for
whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift!
Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all
things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by
it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by
heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth tliere-
on. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, h3rpocrites ! for ye pay
tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides,
which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye make clean the outside of the cup
and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
*Matt XT. d— 9.
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900 GENUINENESS AND CRBDIBILITT OF
Thou blind Phamee, cleanse first that wfaieh is within the cup and
platter, that the ontside of them may be dean also. Woe onto yon,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like unto whited sepal-
chresy which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of
dead men*s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outward-
ly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy
and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hjrpocrites ! be-
cause ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres
of the righteous, and say. If we had been in the days of our fathers
we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the
prophets. Wherefore, ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are
the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the
measure of your fathers. Fe aerpenta, ye generation of vipera^ how
can ye eacape the damnation of hell? Wlierefore, behold, I send
unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye.
shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your syn-
agogues, and persecute them from city to city : That upon you may
come all the ri^teous blood shed upon the* hearth, from the blood oi
righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom
ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you*
all these things shall come upon this generation. 0 Jerusalem, Je-
rusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children togeth-
er, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not ! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." *
That an impostor, whose aim necessarily would be the advancement
of his own interest and aggrandizement, could deliberately addfess
such language, and act such a part towards the men, whose good will
and hearty co-operation were indispensably necessary to the success
of his project, is most unreasonable. Can it be supposed that an im-
postor, who himself absolutely foresaw, and declared that his con-
duct would lead to his rejection by the people, and to his own death,
would, in opposition to the dictates of common sense, persist in such
conduct as Jesus Christ did to the very last ? So that, Mrith the great-
est propriety, the Infidel, who, with these testimonies before him,
maintains that Jesus was a wicked impostor, may be pronounced the
most credulous of all creatures ; for he believes not on(y without evi-
dence, but in direct opposition to it.
Admit that Jesus Christ was what he claimed to be, a teacher sent
" k '. I.I
*MAtt xxiH.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURBa 201
firom God, and all is plaia and intelligible ; for in all his words and
actions, 70a behold him acting consistently with this character. And
it is not surprising that the bold reformer should, hj the unwelcome
truths which he uttered, excite the vehement rage and virulent ha*
tred of the scribes and Pharisees, who, instead of furthering his ob-
ject, on ail occasions watched and persecuted him, and finally com-
passed bis death. Among the numerous sects of the present day,
he, whose great object is his own aggrandizement, is ever careful to
conceal from those who are the objects of his selfish plans, all disco-
veries he may have made of errors in their theories, or evils in their
usages ; but he commends their piety, flatters their vanity, and con-
forms himself to their customs, and thus he secures their favor. But
let a bold reformer arise among the same people, and point out their
errors in theory, and corruptions in practice ; while those who are
implicated will laud the selfish impostor — the upright reformer they
will pursue with the most uncompromising hostility, and will attribute
to him motives of which he never thought, and actions which he ne-
ver committed.
Thb principle being admitted, it affords a sure criterion from which
to judge that it was utterly impossible for the words and actions of
Jesus to have been those of an impostor, and it points out most clear^
ly the motive which urged the higher and more influential classes, of
the Jewish nation to acts of hostility and vengeance towards Jesusi
who had publicly exposed and condemned them.
What strengthens the argument is, that the conduct of Jesus, upon
the supposition that he was an impostor, was not less extraordinary
towards his disciples, than it was towards the scribes and Pharisees.
Is it not evident to every person of common sense, that an impostor,
placed in similar circumstances, would have allured his followers by
bountiful promises of earthly riches and honors ? And if Jesus Christ
had been an impostor, would he not have promised his adherents, that
as the Roman yoke was nOw on the point of being broken, and the
kingdom of the Messiah to be sot up, they should be munificendy
rewarded by the dignities and emoluments which their prince would
be able and willing to confer upon them ?
Did Jesus Christ address such language to his followers ? Hear
him : ** Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves :
be ye therefore wise as serpepts, and harmless as doves. But beware
of men : for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will
scourge you in their synagogues : and ye shall be brought before
governors and kings for my sake, for a t^timony against them and
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303 GENUINENESS AND OBBIHBILITT OF
tbe Gentiles. But when they 4eli^r you up* take no thought how,
or what ye ehali apeak ; for it shall be given you in that same hour
what ye shall speak : for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of yout
Father whieh speaketh in you* And the brother shall deliyer up the
brother to death, and the father the child ; and the children shall rise
up ^against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake ;. but he that endureth
to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city,
flee ye into another. Tbe disciple is not above his master, nor the
servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his
master, and the servant as his lord ; if they have called the mas-
ter of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of
his household ? And fear not them which kill the body, but are not
aUe ta kill the soul; but rather fear Him, which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.*
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross and follow me« for whosoever shall save his life, shall lose
it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.t
The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men ; and they
shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again.| And ^
ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars ; for nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. All these are the
beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver 3rou up to be afflicted
and shall kill you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's
sake. II If the world hate you, ye know>that it hated me before it
hated you. If ye were of the world, the woild would love his own ;
^ut because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that
I said unto- you : The servant is not greater than his lord.. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you ; if they have kept
my saying, they will keep yours also ; but all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me. $ These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not
be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues : yea, the
time cometh, that whosoever kiUeth you, will think that he doeth God
service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have
not known the Father nor Me." %
Such was the language Jesus Christ addressed to his disciples,
not on one occasion, but constantly ! Such was his mode of alluring
• Matt X. 16—28. f ^^^' ^rri. 24—26. * Ibid. xviL 22—23.
I Ibid. zxif. 6—9. § John xv. 18—21. 1 Ibid xri 1—3.
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THE NEW TE8TAMEKT SCKIPTUIUBa 808
followers, and of gaining proselytes ! Is this the language of a de-
signing impostor, whose object was sedition and rebellion! And
what influence did such communications have upon the minds of the
disciples of Christ ? We are informed that on one occasion, when
these discouraging communications were made to them, they were ex*
ceeding sorry,** and on another, occasion, that " Peter began to re*
bfike him.** But did Jesus change or softea his language ! So far
from this, he still persisted, and to Uie last allured followers to enlist un-
der his banners ; by promising, as their reward, uniyersal hatred, con-
tempt, excommunication, persecution, banishment, imprisonment and
death ! With these testimonies before his eyes, and a very moderate
knowledge of human nature in his head, the reader cannot for a mo-
ment believe that Jesus Christ was an artful impostor, seeking his own
aggrandizement, by inciting his ceuntrymen to sedition and rebellion.
But if Jesus Christ was an impostor, pray, what object had he in
view ? Was it wealth, or power, or reputation T . These he utterly
slighted himself, and the direct tendency of all his precepts is to pro-
duce an indifference for them in the minds of his followers, and con-
sequently to render them the most useless of all tools in the hands of
a designing impostor. What then was his object ? If the Infidel
attempt clearly, distinctly, and on solid grounds, moral and histor-
ical, to specify, he will find himself involved in a difiiculty which all
his ingenuity and sophistry cannot overcome.
But the Infidel asserts Jesus Christ claimed to be a king. This is
granted $ yet he did not as Mr. O. asserts, claim " a temporal crown
as a passport to the courts above." The sense in which he claimed
the regal charaeter, so far from being favorable to ambition, and as the
Jews understood the regal character of Messiah, was perfectly hostile
to ambition, one of which the worldly minded Jews never dreamt
**My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this
world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to
the Jews : but now is my kingdom not from hence."* Nor did the
actions of Jesus Christ « look like rebellion," as Mr. O. rashly as-
serts ; and there was no deceit, no equivocation or prevarication irand
in his mouth, as he elsewhere impiously alleges.
That this account of the nature of Christ's kingdom was not merely
the evasive subterfuge of disappointed ambition, given before Pilate
when every hope of an ear^ly monarchy had vanished, but unheard
of while there was a prospect of success, is evident from the fact, that
* John xviiL 30.
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204 GENUINENESS AND CREDIBILITY OF
it exactly tallies with both the previous declarations and actions of
Jesus Christ It is, conceded that to the very last his disciples were
impressed with the notion which generally prevailed among the Jews,
that the kingdom of the Messiah was to be of a temporal nature.
Hence we are informed that the mother of Zebedee's children came to
him with her sons, desirmg that he should grant that they might sit
the one on his right' hand and the other on his left, in his kingdom,
and that the men when they heard it were moved with indignation
against the two brethren. But what was the language of Jesus on
that occasion ? "Ye know," said he, ** that the prince^ of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise author-
ity upon them. But it shall not be so among you ; but whosoever will
be great among you, let him be your minister ; and whosoever will
be chief among you, let him be your servant ; even as the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but. to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many."* Still, however, his disciples persisted in be«
lieving Aat the kingdom of the Messiah must be temporal ; and we are
informed that immediately before the crucifixion there was *' a strife
among them which of them should be accounted the greatest." But
Jesus Christ assured his disciples that his kingdom was future, and
in another world : •< As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire,
90 shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that ofiend, and ihem which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father^" t And in exact accordance with this are all the teachings of
Jesus. Immediately after he hzi appointed Peter to a high office in
his kingdom, he assured him, Jhat instead of becoming a temporal
prince he would shortly be put to death by his enemies. And he
showed unto his disciples, how that he must go up to Jerusalem and
sufier many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and
be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took him and began
to Vibuke him, saying, Be it far from thee. Lord ; this shall not be unto
thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:
thou art an ofience unto me, for thou savorest not of the things that
be of God, but of those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his
disciples : If any man will come afler me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me; for whosever will s^ve his life
• Matt XT. »6— 28. f Ihid. xiiL 40-43.
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THE NEW TESTAMEJirr BC^IPTfJSBa 205
ilball lose it^ and whosoever will \me his life for my sake sh^ll find it;
ibr what is a man piy>fited if he shall gain the whol^ world and loscf
his own soul? and what shall a man give is exchange for h}B soult
For the So^ of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, wi^ his
angels ; and then he shall reward every m^ according to his works."
The actions of Christ were in perfect accordance .with his words/
He did not take the first step to incite his countr3nnen to rebellion
against the J^omans. Sot far from this, when the captious political
question was put to him^ In it Ux^ful to give tribute onto Otsair or
not ? he took occasion/ to teach his hearers the twp-fdd duty qf dis-,
charging their several obligations to God and to thehr sovereign. Had
he been, an imjpoetor, aiming at an -earthly kingdom, h^ would have
inculcated .upon his followers tho^ fiery and venement passions which
would have subserved hts ambitious purposes ;* but instead of these,
he impressed upon them m^kness, humility, forgiveness of injuries,
patience, submission, and non-resistance to injuries, which where eal*
QUlated to render those who practiced his prec^pts^ die n]iost wqrtfatess-
of all tools, in the hands of one whose object was sedition and rebel-
lion. Moreover, opportunities did occur, whep, if so disj^sed, he
might have acquired the sovereignty of Judea. When he'had fed the
five thousand with five loaves and two smaH fishes, we are informed
that *' these men, when they had' seen the miracle that Jesus did,
said : This is of a truth that prophet, that should come into the
world."' And we are told that they were about to take bim and makf
him a king. Now, whether the alleged fact of the miracle for (he
present be admitt^ or denied, here was an opportunity offiBred of
placing himself at the head of a numerous band *of a^erents, who
recognized Jiim as their expected Messiah, and who werd ready with
the. sword to vindicate his claims to the throne of D^vid* Had he
been a designing impostor he would haye been eertaiti to bave availed
himself of it. But Jesus refused ta avail hims^f o€ tiiis opportuhity,
and^nUidrew himself to the solitude of an unfrequented, mountain ;
so that his conduct, although in perfect accordance with his character
as a teacher set\t , from God, and whose kingdpm was spiritual and
heavenly, was the very reverse of 'that which ambition wpul^have
dictated to one whose object was self-'aggrandizement, by the aver*
throw of the Rpman power in Judea. Therefore, Mr. Olmsted i^
utterly misti^en when ho asserts the impression of the discipled, that
the kingdom of Christ was to be temporal, was caused **by his
conduct and conversation." That impression is to be attributed to
the views universally prevalent among the Jews, end the disciplee
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906 GEirDlNENBSS AND CREIHBILITY OF
appear to have been voder its mflnence imtfl ChraBt ascended Into
heaven. . ' ,
^Mr. Olmsted gravely informs us that the disciple* acted the part
of recruiting officers^ whose duty it was to enlist partisans fom tem-
poral kingdom ; who, with their recruits, daring the passover week,
were to assemble at Jerusalem to strike the decisive blow. By ex*
amining the commission given by Christ to his discipies when be
sent th^m forth, we may be able to decide on the truth of this aUega-
tftm. And when he sent forth the twelve, he said, •< As ye go, preach,
saying. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, deanse
Ae lepers, raise the dead, cast oat devils : freely ye h^ve received,
fredy give. Provide neither gold, nor silv^, nor brass in your pur-
ses: nor scrip for your pumey, neither two coats, nor yet stwte.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves : be ye
Aereibre wise as serpents, and hailnless as; doves. And when he
sent out the seventy disciples, he said unto them : Gh> your ways :
behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Garry neiidjier
purse, nor scrip,.nor ahoes : and salute no man' by the way. And
into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things
as are set before 3nou. And heal the sick ^at are therein, and say
unto them. The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.^' Are not
these Strang instructions to be given by a desigfking impostor, to reg^
ilate the conduct of his emissaries while inciting the people to trea*
son and Rebellion ? Let us now enquire into the previous trdnin^ of
tiiese men. Hete are some of &e lessons inculcated upon them diat
they might be qualified, according to Mr. CHmstedy to .incite their
eoimtrymen to war and bloodied. Blessed are the peace makers;
lor they shall be called the children.of God. <• Blessed ard the merci-
ful > for they shall t>hlain mercy. Te have heard that it hath been
said, an eye for an eye, and a. tooth for a toodi; But I say unto yeu,
That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at
the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy doak also. And
whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give
to him ^at askedi thee, and from him that would borrow of thee
torn not thou awdy. . I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them
diat curse you, do good to them that hate you, an4 pray ^ for item
which despitefully use you, and persecute yon." Such then was the
training of the men, who, according to ^s sapient Infidel, acted as
recruiting officers, to enlist partisans for one whose object was ** Ires*
son and rebellion.'* Verily, of that nan who,.* with dieae testimd*
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THB lOSW TB9TAMENT 8CRIPTUBE8. %fff
nies before him, can believe the truth oif Mr. Ohnsted's impious
charge, it uiUQt be said that.he is the very portent of credulity^
According to Mr» Ohnsted, every one who cannot subscribe to hii
asaertiont that the object of Jesus ChriKt was treason and rebellioni
is "dtupid," destitute ef " common. sense," and a /'downright fooL"
But what are his proofs? He bore a conspicuous part in an. unlawful
assemblage of the people ; and he overthrew the tables of the money
changers in the temple.
Jesus, we are informed by the ev;angelists, rode into Jerusaleni* ac-
companied by a very gre^t multitude, who had ** spread their gar^
ments in the way, and others cut down brknches from the trees ,and
strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and
that followed after, cried^ saying, Hosann^a to the Son gf David f
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : Hosanna in the
highest 1 And when he was come into Jerusalem, aH tha dity was
moved, say^, Who is this] And tlie multitude said, This is Jesus,
the prophet of J>(aa(areth of Galilee." Fromi the <5oiiduct of the mul-
titude it is evident that they believed Jesus to be their 'long expected
Messiah. And it is highly probable that they ex[>ected he would
then set up a tpmpoiral kingdom. But did he countenance this expec^
tation^ or did he 4>y word or action influence them to. any act of trea-
son and rebellion agaiqst the then existing government ? It is evi-
dent that the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, with ail
their enndty,. were incapable of sustaining such a charge. And there
is every reason to believe they left ho stone untamed, that his
cieath might be encompassed. We are expressly informed that <* the
chief priesto and elders, and all the council sought false witness
against Jesus; to put him to death. And although many testified, yet
the charge of inciting the multitude to treason and rebellion, was* un-
mistained. Finally, two testified that he Jiad said : ** I am able to de^
stroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days." From this,
it is evident, that the council by whom he was condemned were com-
piled to change their origina\ ground. And 4hey condemned him,
not for aediUoTij but for blasphemy. For ^hen these witnesses had
given their testimony, "the high priest arose, .and said unto htm,
Answereth th^ nothing? what is it which these* witness against thee?
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said
unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether
thou be the Christ the Son of God? Jesus sajith unto, him. Thou
hast said : nevertheless^ I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye See the
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
* 2
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SOe 6ENUINENE88 AND OREDIBILmr t)P
doods of MEven. Th6n the high priest rent his clothes, wying^ He
hatb spoken blasphemy; what fbviher need hare we of -witnesses?
Behold* now. ye have heard his blasphemy; what think ye? They
answered and said he ib guilty of death. Then did they spit in his
face, and buffet^ him ; and others smot^ hiQi ndthlhe palms of their
hands, saying, Prophesy imto ns, thou Christ^ who is hc^ that smote
tbet?"»
' If Jesus Christ tDa$ the Son of God, in riding into th^ city of Je^
nisalem amidst the hosSuinas of the multitude, he acted perfectly con^
sistent with his character a^d his 6(t repeated declarations ; for he
then came in the most public manner, to deliyer up hitaself to those
who we»B pitting his destruction. Then the King of the Jews
came to be murdered by 'his subjects, and to make his death a ransom
for their souls. U^n the same supposition, his conduct in orer-
4hM) wing thje tables of the money-changers in the temple, was also in
perfect keepipg'with his character and offico* ^For th^ temple, the
tntirt temple^ was erected not as a place of merchandize, but fbr the
worship of Jeho^h. * Therefore it is* most unreasonable to adduce
these acts as proofs that Jesus wa9 ntt the Son of God, but an art-
ful, impbstor. 'When the Infidel shall have proved that he was an im-
postor, then he may legitimately advance the manner in which he en-
tered Jerusalem, and his overturning the tables pf the money-chang-
ers, in support of an accusation, that his ol^ject at that time was trea-
$on and.rebelUon, But until this be done, they are no proofs at alL
If Jesus was' an artful inlpostor* from the showing of the Infidel
himself, he then had before him a golden opporUinity of aoquiring
the sovereignty of Israel ; for the vast multitudes, impatient as they
were under the Roman yoke, and viewing him as they did» the son
of David, who was to elevate them above :b11 the nations of the ear&,
were ready to obey his every command. And it is impossible to con-
ceive that an impostor, acting in his character of an impostor, would
^ot have availed himself of the highly favorable circumstances by
which he was then sorrounded, to prombte his schemes of ambition
and aggrandizement But Jesus, so f|^r from seizing upon that op-'
portunity to set up himself as tl^e temporal king of the Jewish nation,
predicted the destruqtion of their city and temple, and the trarafer
of their privileges to the Gentiles.
Mr. O. gives us to understand that Christ's remaining in Jerusa*
lem unmolested, and exhibiting himself daily in the temple, for'save-
•Matt.xxtLe»— aa. .
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THE NEW TESTAMENT 80ItIPTUR£& 209
fal da7» afbi^ he had pablidy rode info /erasalem, aad orertnraed the
tables of the money-changers, are wholly inexplicable; and upon this
be foonda an objection against the truthfhbdess of the evangelists. If
this man*s mind had not been filled with, prejudice and malignity
against Jesus Christ, he could not but have perceived that the inex-
plicability of which he complained, demonstrated the fialsehood of his
own hypothepis. ' For if Jesus Christ had been an artftil. impostor*
who had made an unsuccessful attempt to, incite his countrymen to
treason and rebellion^ nothing is more evident, than that* Pilite the
Roman governor, who was at the time in the city^ would forthwith
have caused him to be apprehended. But so hi from this, when the
council, and for no other reason, but that tiiey had not the power to' ex-
ecute Aeir own 'Sentence upon hitai, brought Jesus before.him, he was
convinced that he was innocent, and made three efforts to save him.
We will now endeavor to explain Mr. O's inexplioability. In do*
ing this, we have to combat a very erroneous opinion generally pro-
vident among Christians diemselves. It is this 3 ^at in private li(e,
Jesus Christ was a forlorn object of pity ; and that in his public life, he
was the <sons^ait object of the scorn, hatred,, and malice of the people,
with the exception of a few disciples, a few sick persons. whom he had
healed, and a feif pious women. This opinion, however, is evidently
erroneous ; and may have had its origin in a misconcejplion of the
meaning of, a portion of thefifty-^ird chapter of Isaiah. It b not
support^ by .the statements of the evangelists. So far from thia,
they make very different representations. Speaking of his youths
they inforni us that he*grew up in favor both with God and man ; and
there is every reason to bdieve that Jesus Christ, until he entered his
puUic ministy,' was the happiest man that was ever bom of a woman.
It is true that after he entered his public ministry, he was watched,
hated and envied. Attempte w^re continually made to trepan, en-
snare, entangle, and impeach him : he was followed^ from country to
country, from cLly to city, and from bne side of the sea of Tiberias
to the other. But by 'whom veas all this done ? Not by the common
people, b^t by the chief priests, and the doctors of the law ; those men
whose principles he condemned, and whose practices he pii6lioly de-
nounced. The men of influence and power in the nation, in person,
or by their emissaries, followed and* watched him wherever he went
It was not so with' the common people ; with them he was exceed^
inghf popular^ they followed him in crowds everywhere. When
the Pharisees iand scribes accused him, and endeavored to reproach
and scandalize him, they expressed their high approbation of hia
2t2 34 2
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210 GENUINENBSS AND CREDIBILITY OF
and of his works ; and entertainbd high thongh fallacious expeciations
of the results of his mission. Upon this principle it is easy to a(^'
count for the public manner in which he appeared in the temple, at
the very time his enemies were plotting his destructien. ' The miil-
titudes who accompanied Jesus ^kto Jerusalem, were no doubt greatr
ly disappointed that he did not then set up a temporal kingdom. But'
even after this disappointment, such was the hold he had upon their
eonfidenoe and affection, that the Jewish rulers dared to take no pub^
He steps againsi him. But they <!onsulted ^at they might take him
by subtlety ; and they had to agree not to make ihe attempt on the
feast while there-was a crov^d in the city, for fear of an uproar among
the people. Thob plot they had to keep a profound secret, and they
had to execute it after night. Hence the necessity for the aid of the
traitor Judas, who conducted thoae sent to take him in the garden on
Mount Olivet, where' Jesus and his disciples frequently tesorted for
private conversation and .devotion. Hence also the necessity, not as
Mr. Olmsted says, of a cohort of five hundred armed men, sent out
by the Romans, but* of a desperate mob, the creatures of the high
priests, who accompanied Judas. And when they had him in their
power, they hurried through his trial before the Sanhedrim, and by
daylight delivered him as a state prisoner to the Roman governor, so
that they took ^e advantage of the common people, who dared not
rebel when they saw Jesus in tiie custody of the Roman soldiers.
When they beheld him thus a prisoner, then, and not tilf then, did
they abandon their expectation that Jesus would set up among them
a temporal kingdom ; and under the influence of disappointinent 'and
mortified ambition, they finally united with "the chief priests and eld*
era in the rejection of Christ, and in the cry of, Crtie(fy him, Qjracify
him.*
* As already stated, the object of Mr^ 0. ift th*^ passage wa ai? combating, is jto
shew that the prophecy contained in the fiftj-third chapter of Isaiah was not fulfill-
ed in^ Jesus Christ One of lus supposed proofr is thaCt Jemis was <' the most poaoh
lar reformer we hare any account oi," that *^ throngs followed him continually,'* &c
Therefore, he argues th^ he was not despised and rejected of men, as predicted by
the prophet In the passage died, as the reader may have observed, mis anogant
b]asphemer says: « Admit the facts ; I im^e jou on the inferences.*' Af^ strijH
pmg the facts of hi9 fidto glosses, they are admitted. The popularity of Jesus Ghnst
with the common ppople, hi^ entrance into Jerusalem* aad lus overthrow of the ta-
bles of the mpney-changers are al^ aciknowledgM. Are we empaled 1 Most certainly,
says &e Infidel; for in admitting his great popularity, you are bound to acknowledge
tliat Jesus was not de^^Hsed and rejected d men.. This does not follow. When he
opened his commission in Ae synagogue at Nazareth, was he not d^ised and re-
jected by his townsmen t Did not the Jewish rulera and chief men of the nation,
dnriog ^ whude cootm of his ministiy, watch, penecote, and rcjject himt Aid
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THE NEW TESTAMENT SCBffTUQES. ill
We hare seen the solicitade of the council to obtain testimony by
which Jesus Christ might be conyicted of treason and rebelKon. If
he was an impostor, and his object the overthrow of the eidsting gov-
ernment, the traitor Judas must have possessed the secyet His name
is mentioned at an early period of the history ; he w^ one of the
twelve selected b/ Jesus Christ to be always with him.; wherever
Christ went, he went^ whatever, Christ said, he heard; and whatever
Christ did, he witnessed. He was also one of those^ who^ according
to Mr. Olmsted, went forth to enlist adherents, who during the pass-
over weejL at Jerusalem, were to strike the decisive blow. He also
appears to have stood high in the infant cpmmunity of which he was
a member, for he was iheir treasurer; which implies that he was
received as worthy of their confidence. Therefore, whatever might
have been the true nature and object t)f his echeme, it must have been
known to Judas. And to the high priests his testimony would have
been of incalculable value ; for i^ would havc^at once laid open all the
hidden wheels of a hated fraud, and would have^ fully justified their
proceedings both to the people and to th^ir own consciences. Why
then, in all their solicitude to obtain testimony, did not the chief
priests bring forward the evidence of this man ? But from him w^
hear not a word ; from some cause or othef , that witness, who above
^1 others, could throw clear and distinct light^^upon that dark plot in
whi6h he himself was engaged, is not produced.
Strange indeed that the high priests, in their anxiety to find proper
witnesses, never thought of summoning befbre them one, who, if an
imposture had been practised, must have known it ; and who, if the
object of Jesus Chriit waer ta overthrow the existing government,
would have been certain- to hav6 revealed it. It must not be asserted
that hi9 inopportune death prevented his appearance on the trial/ It is
1 i 1 . ■
whm he was a state prisoner, did not th» fickle mnltitnde, who had acopmpenied
tdm to Jerusalem, despise and reject himl When Pilate called together the chief
priests, the rulers, ana the people, 'he said unto them : Ye We brought this man
onto me, as one that perverteth the people ; a^d, behold, I having examined Mm be-
fore you, have found no fault in him, as touching those things, whereof ye accuse
him; and three times he sought to release him. But when Pilate saw that he
eould prevail nothing, but rather that a tumult was made ; he took water and washed
his hands before the multitude, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this Jwt
person, seq ye to it Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be upon us,
and on our children. Yet with these facts before his eyes, Mr. 0« teUs his unfortti-
pate victims, that Jesus Christ was neither despised nor rejected by the Jewish peo-.
pie. This man's object is to uproot Christianity, to subvert all Uie institutions of
focie^, to curse our nation with Atheism amd all its horrors, anarchy, licentiousneH,
bloodshed. Verily the implements he uses to ensnare the unwary youths .with
whom he comes in contact, are in perfect keeping with the dark cause he advo-
b! . ' •• ■ ■
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21% GENUINSNBdS AND CREDIBILITY OF
true that, stung with remonet he went and hanged himsdf ; but he did
not commit the deed until he saw that. his Master was condenmed.
Why then was he not bjrought forward on the trial t Cleaily becauae
he had no testimony to give by which the. character of Jesus could
hare been impeached. But this man^ conscience-stricken, return^ to
the chief priests the wages of iniquity. And di/1 he then impeach ihe
character of his Master? So far frpm this, while he acknowledged
his own guilt, he vindicated the character of his Lord : / hav^ nth
ned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.
iesuM Christ, thereforei' wa^ not, as Mr. Ohnsted impiously asserts,
« wicked impostor, "^hose object was treason' and rebellion ; but all
his words and all his actions were in f)erfect accordance with the ehai^
acter of a messenger of the Almighty^ and the Saviour of the worid;
for sincerity^ pUrity, humility, disinterestedness, benevolenoe, snd
consistency, are exhibited in his every word and action. And* in. all
circumstances, both in ^ospeHty and adversity, whether surnnmded
by his friends or by h^ foes ; at the marriage at Came in Galilee, at
the grave of Lazurus ; at the bar ojf the high priest, and of Pilalet
and nailed upon the cross, we ever behold hitfi the same— calm, com-
posed, meek. In a word, his character is marked with every ^ing
opposite to enthusiasm; credulity and ambition. Well therefore did
Bishop ShMock, in contrasting the fbunder of Christianity. wi^ M(^
hamed say, •< Gro to your natural religion; lay before her Mahomet
and his disciples, arrayed in armor and in blood, riding in^ triumph
over the spoils of thousands and ten thousands, who fell by his vi^^
torious sword ; show her the cities which he set in flames, the coun*
tries which he ravaged and destroyed, and the mii^erable distress of
all the inhabitants of the earth. When she has viewed him in this
scene, carry him into his* retirements. Show her the prophet's so-
raglio ; show her his con^bines and wives ; let her see his adultery,
and hear him. allege Revelation and his divine commission to justiQr
hb lust and his oppre^ion.
When she is tired of this prophet, then show her the blessed Jesus,
humble and meek, doing good to all the sons of men, patiently in-
structing both the ignorant and the perverse ; but let her see him in
his most retired privacy ; let her follow him to the mountain, and hear
his devotions and supplications \o God« Carry her to his table to set
his poor fere, and hear his heaveidy discourse. Let her see him
injured, but not provoked; let her attend* him to the tribunals, and
consider the patience with which he endured the scoffs and reproaches
of his enemies. Lead her to his cross and let her view him in the
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THE mSW .TESTAMENT SCBEPTURBa 218
i||;ony of death', and hear his last prayer for his perseoators : Father^
forgive them^for they know not what they do.
When natural religion has viewed both, ask which is the prophet
of Godf But her answer we have already had, when she saw part
of this 8(Jene through the eyes of the centurian ^ho attended at the
cross ; by him she spake and said, " Truly this man was the Son of
God,"* . ' . • ' .
The'chantcter of Mohamed is hot the only one among those who
assumed io be founders of a new religion, which cannot bear 40 be
Inrought in contrast with that of Jesus Christ None can bear the
contrast Will Ihe masters of the philosophical sects, the sages of
ancient Greece and Rome, bear to be thus contrasted? Zeno, Socra-
. tes, .Diogenes, Epicietus, Plato and Aristode, Cic6ro, Xenophon; the
Gatos and Seneca; select from Aem all* one who will bear to be con-
trasted with Jesus of Nazareth. J^o perfectly pure and untainted
eharacter is to be found* among them : but inconsistency, ranity, pro*
fligacy, folly, cowardice, rerenge, idolatry, stain the characters of all.
Search for a perfect character in the history of the human Cunily.
•Tou may search, but yon cannot find,'ezcept in the founder of Christ
tianity ; of whom, ip ctefiance of the force of all evidence, moral and
historical, the Infidel Olmsted dares to assert that his character was
that of a designing impostor, who, by the basest of means, attempted
to decoy his countrymen, the Jews, into acts of violence, treason, and
rebellion, which must have resulted in their own destruction. But
ihe charac(|er of Christ being vindicated from the foul aspenions of
this rash Infidel, the resort of himself and his coadjutors is to assume
a position equally untenable, viz« that the aposdes and primitive dis-
ciples of Jesus Christ were a band of imposton, who imposed upon
the credulity of mankind^ But haying already ^hown the unreasona-
bleness and absurdity of this assumption; we will follow them no
&rther ; but aAer stating and answering some objections, necessanly
omitted, we will close this branch of the argument and proceed to
consider the daims of the Scriptures to the inspiration of the Spirit
of God.
> * Bidiop Sherlock*! ScnnoDs, vol I p. 271.
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tl4 OBJBCnONB 8TATBD AND. AJiSWERED.
CHAPTEk V.
OBJECTIONS STAtBD AND AN8WE1ISD. .
RAviNOy by a two-fo)d process, estabKshed the credibUify of the
New Testament Scriptures, we might well leave the subject with the
reader; but that all reasonable minds may be perfectly satisfied,- we
will BOW notice th^ objections necessarily omitted ; and it is believed
that even a few genenl remarks are, of themseWesi sufficient to
sweep them away like chaff befosd the wi^d. Infidels* pretend to
have found many erroneous statements and contradictory accounts in
Ae New Testament Scriptures. Sixteen hundred years ago, Poi^
phyry, the learned and malignant Syrian, as we have seen, wrote a
number of books against them. ' One of them was eAdrely codso-
orated to collecting all the contradictions which he pretended^ he
had found in the sacred writings. ,And from his day down to the
English Infidels of die eighteehdi century, and firom them down to
Paine, Taylor, English, and Olmsted, in search of new oontradio*
lions, Infidels have compared seripturo with scHpture, line with line,
word with word, vind^ detail with detaiL And when it is considered
flial ihe New Testament is eminently composed of brief narrative^,
many of them of the same events, but repeated under different fbrmSf
and by different histonans, it is not surprising duit they should havf
soooeeded in finding many seeming contradkdons; and some of'them*
at first sight, vevy specious. To attempt a refutation of each ef these
would be an endless task, for they n^ust be taken up in detail and x^
futed by detached answers. But as- these pretended contiadictions
are only imaginary, and the passages in which they seem to be iih
vdved require only a little reflecti<Mi to reconcile them, an answer to
a few ezam(>les will serve for the wholei
That excellent writw, M. Qaussen, treating of this aubject, saya:
** The complement of the circumstadces of two events which occurred
in the East eighteen centuries ago, remains unknown, because the sa-
cred historians relate them to us with an admirable brevity. Tet
men have Jiastened, because the story does not explain the mode of
reconciling two of their features, to pronounce them contradictory.
Nothing is more irrational. Suppose, to give an example not in the
Scriptures, that a Hindoo Pundit had just been reading diree sue-
ci^t' but very accurate histories of the illustrious Napoleon. The
2
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OWfiCndNS STATED AND ANSWERED. ftlS
fint shaU inform him that the taking of Paris, preceded by a great
eiliision of blood at the gates of the capital, made his abdioattdh neces-
sary, and tfiat an English frigate was to transport him immediately to
an Island of the Mediterranean. A second relates, thai Uiis great
captain, conquered by the E!nglish, who took possession .of Paris
without a blow, was transported by them to St Helena, whither gen^
«ral Bertrand wished to follow him, and where he "finished his days
in ^e atms of thts^ faithful servant. A third related, that the fallen
emperor vtwB * accompanied in hiS' exUe by the generals Goufgaud,
Bertnnd, and Mentholtm. All ihese statements are accurate, and
yet how many flat contradictions In so few words, exclaims the
learned citizen of Benares. St. Helena in iiie Mediterranean! who
doeii not know that it rises a great rock in the Atlantic T Pint con-
tradictioli : one of these books is false, it must be rejected. And
iagain, Paris taken wi&out a blow ; and Paris taken after a bloody
^ombtt at its gates I Second contradiction. Ahd 'again, here one
general,' there three generals 1 Thircf contradiction.*'*
.Many objections, urged by Infidels against the narratiyes of the
*eyangelists, although at first, sight very specious, upon a close ezaai-
ination will be found to be of no greater force than ihe supposed con-
Iradietion* adduced 'by Gaussen. ThUi writer has taken pains to
select as examples, some 6f those, which, by the enemies of Jteveb>
tioai are considered th^ most formidable, three of which are here pre-
sented to the reader; and the answers given to thengi by our learned
author will enable him to detect the fallacy of many other objections
urged by Infidels, but which are to be traced to preci^ly the same
origin with tfiese.
• •< Rnt ExampU. — ^Mark (xvi. 6.) tells us. Thai tht uHmJtn $au> a
Toimo HAM, (6ne only,) $ealeU an the right side . ; . who eaii to
them* Be not tfrcdd . . • you seek Jetut of Nazareth who wa$
cnteifted .... he is rieeh again.
. And Luke relates (xxiv. i.) that. Two liBV presented themsehes to
th^m • . . wJu) said to them^ Why seek ye the Kving among the
dead? Hs is not here; he is risen.
They present these passages to ua as' irreooncilable ; but where-
fore? ' There is a diflerenoe* unquestiottably ; but there is neither
eontradietion not disagreement betw^n the statementer. Must they
be identic in otdMr tb be truel It is sufficient that they are tme,
eBJpeciatty'in hiB.t6rie8 so admirably sueciiict Does it no^ often hap-
** C^osflin on the PlMUtfy liiipfaatkiii sfOe 8erlpl^^
. 2
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2)6 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWEIED.
pen to us, without ceasing to be exact, that we relate to two different
persons^ successively!, the same story in two different wayvt Aii4
why might not the apostles do the mme ? St Lul^e tells us 4hat two
persons met the wopaen ; while St. Matk speaks <Hdy of that dne,
who. having alone rplled away the stone, was seajted at the right side
of the sepulchre, and who spoke to them. Thus, one of Nkpoleon^s
biographers mentions three generals, whilst the other, without ceasing
tabe accurate, speaks of Bertrand^alone. Thus looses, aAer having
showo us three men in the apparition of Manore (Genesis zviii.) inn- >
mediately represents one of them speaking as* if he were alone. Thuf
r might relate the same event successively, and in a veij diffiereoi
manner, without ceasing to be true. *< I met three men who showed
me th^ direct road. I met a man who put me on the r^t way.".
If, then, there ie in the quoted pa^s^Lges, a striking difference, yet
there is not even the appearance of contradiction.
Second E^ampUk — Matthew (xx. 10.) sa3rs : That ob Jetui um$
going out of Jericho^ faUowed ^ a great mamtude^ two blind menf /
fitting by the way-side, hearing that JesuB wai pastinffg eried^ ioy*
ingf Wave mercy onm^^ ' • ' *
And ^ark (x. 46.) tells us : A» Jesos went out of Jericho with his
disciples, and a great multitude of people, blind Bartineus '•at f^ the
tDoy^Hde begging. And when he heard that it w^s Jesus of Naza-
reth* he began to cry outy and $ay, Jesm have mercy on me. Lukft
also (xviii. 35.) spe^s pnly of one blind man..
What is there here, we still ask, of contradiction or inacenracyf
Of &ese two blipd men whom Jesus, in &e midst of so many
other works, healed at Jericho, one was more remarkable than, the
other^ perhaps better known than the other ; ai^d who spoke to
Jesus in the name of both. Mark speaks of him alone, he even tdls
us his name ; bu^ does not say that he was. alone. Matthew ihen has .
named ^em b9th. The narratives <>f the three evangelists axe equal-
ly true, without being exaci^y alike. What is there extraordinary in
this! .
But we are told there is stiH a greater difference in this same narra-
tive ; let us hear it-^in a third example. Matthew and Mark -informs
us that the event occurred as^etta wae going out of Jericho; whilst
Luke tells us that it took place as Jesus wof drawing, nigh to Jer-
icho*, Palpable contradiction ! has been uttered more than once. •
How can you prove that? what do you know about it? must be
the reply. The details of this event are unknown to yon; how can
yon show that these statements are IrreeondlaUe ? iHiile oA the coii-
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OBJECnOlVS STATED A^ ANSWERED. ai7
fnajf h 18 perfectly eaiy to harmonize them by a very simple siippo-
fitioB* St Luke, as he does so oflen in the whole' coarse of. his gos-i
pel, has united in his narrative two saccessive circumstances of ^e
same event Observe, that it is he alone of the three historians who
mentions the first question of Bartimeus. Having heard the mulH*
tude who were paesing^ he enquired iQhat it was? This question
was proposed by the blind man h^ore Jenu entered the city of Jeri-
cho. Informed then as to the character of this great prophet, whom
he had never known until then, he followed them, and jomed the
crowd, who during the repast at the house of Zachens, were waiting
to meet Jesus as he should go out It was then they told him that
Jenu (^Nazareth waepasnng^ (these words are in St Luke.) He
followed him thus for some time; &e other blind man joined him;
and their healing, was not effected until the moment when Jesus, on
his way to Jerusalem, wan gtnng out of Jericho^ where he had stop-
ped only to visit the happy Zacheus at his own house. This simple
explanation dissipates aU the pretended contradiction of these, three
texts.
Fowrth Example. St Matthew (xxvii. 5.) says, that Judas hung
hkneelf; Peter, in the Acts {}. 18.) says, ih^ifalitng headlong^ A«
buret asunder in the midst , and all his bowels gushed out.
Some have said here is contradiction. We remember that at Gene-
va, in a public conference, when we were defending this very thesis
with our dear friend, Professor Menard, then pastor at Lyons, he cited
three analogous features of a lamentable death of which he had been
almost the witness. The unhappy man in Lyons, to be more sure
of his destruction, and to give himself a double death, placed himself
upon the window sill of the fourth story, and then shot himself in
the mouth with a pistol. The very narrator of ihip sad event might,*
said he, have made three different statements, and yet all the ^^ree ex-
act In the first, he might have described the entire occurrence ; in
the second, he could have said, this man died by a shot; and in the
third, he threw himself down from the window.
' Such was also the voluntary punishment by which the wretched
Judas went to his own place. He hung himself and fell down head-
long ; his body burst open and all his entrails gushed out The state-
ment of only one more circumstance* of this fiightful death, would
have given us the connecting link. It has not been given us ; but
who would therefore venture to maintafai that there is contradiction?"*
♦OrtMian on Iiypfritioo, pp. 114—117.
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21i OBJECnOW STATED AND AN8WEBED.
Somewhat similar to the extoiples jost adduced is the objectioii
urged by many Infidels against the seeming contradictions between
the genealogies of Jesus, as they are given by Luke and Matthew;
^ut ^e two evangelists having different designs in writing their gos*
pels, it is not to be expected that both should use the same form in
their narratives.
Matthew wrote principally for the Jews. His design was to show
to them that according to their law, Jesus Christ was the heir of the
throne of David, if by a legal descent Therefore his genealogy tra-
ces the pedigree of Jesus Christ as the promised seed, downwards
from Abraham to David ; and from him through Solomon's line to Jo-
seph, .who was the reputed and legal father of Christ Luke wrote
more particularly for the Gentiles. His design was to show them that
Jesus Christ is the Soh of David by a natural descent This was ne-
cessary, for the angel Gabriel, at the -annunciation, told the virgin 'that
" God would give her divine Son the throne of hiB father David :*^
therefore Luke proves this by the genealogy given by him, in which
he traces his descent through Nathan, another son of David,' and
through Eli or Heli, the father of Mary. And it is worthy of remark
that not only the early Christians call Mary the daughter of Heli, but
the Jewish Talmudical writings also calf her the daughter of Heli.
Bishop. Home, treating on this subject, says, *< In the fi^$t flace^
genealogies in general, and those of the Jews in particular, with their
method of deriving them, and the confusion often arising from ^e cir-
cumstance of die same person being called by different names, or dif>
ferent persons by the same name, are in their nature, and mifst be to
us, at this distance of time, of very complicated consideration, and it
is no wonder they should be attended with difficulties and perplezitiet*
, Secondly f The evangelist, in an affair of so much importance, and so
open then to detection, had there been any thing wrong to be detect-
ed, would most assuredly be careful to give Christ's pedigree as it
was found in the authentic tables, which, according to the custom of
the nation, were preserved in the family, as is evident from Josephus,
who says, <* I give you this succession of our family, as I find it
written in the public tables." Thirdly^ As it was well known the
Messiah must descend from David, the gene^ogical tables of that
6mily would be kept with more than ordinary diligence and precis-
ion. Fourthly^, Whatever cavils, the modem Jews and others now
make against the genealogies recorded by the evangelists, die Jews,
Aeir contemporaries, never offered to find fault with, or to invalidate
the aocounts given in die GkMipeL As they wanted neither opportnni-
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ty, mftterials, skiU, nor malice to havfe done it, ^d would have af-
forded them 80 great an advantage against the Christians, this circum-
stance alone, as Dr. South well remarks, were we not now able to
dear the point, ought with every sober and judicious person to have
the force of a moral demonstiration.'* *
Matthew (z. 2—4.). says that the names of the apostles were Si-
mon, who is called Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John,
Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Aipheus,
and L^bbeus whose surname was Thaddeus, Simon the Ganaanite,
and Judas Iscariot
But Luke (vi. 14 — 16.) says their names were Simon, whom he
(Jesus) also named Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholo-
mew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Aipheus, Siinon called
Zelotes, Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot. Here, say
certain very stupid or very malignant Infidels, we have contradiction,
for some of the names of one list are not the same with the other ;
therefpre the New Testament is a forgery. Such persons forget that
in those days the same persons sometimes had several names. In-
stances occur not only in the Old Testament and the New, but also
in profane history. Thus, in Gen. xxvi. 34. Esau's wife is called
Bashemath, but in Gen. xxxvi. 2. she is called Adah ; Gideon, in
Judges vi. 32. is called by that name, but in the next chapter he is
called Jerubaal. Zerobabel is also called Sheshbazzar^ Barnabas,
(Acts i. 25.) who was nominated to the aposdeship, is called Joseph,
Barsabas, and Justus f Joses is also another name of the same apostle.
Indeed, all the other apostles, with the exception of John, had more
names than one. From profane history innumerable instances toiight
be adduced. Pliny the Younger was called Gains, Plinius, Goecileus,
Secundus ; and Porphyry was also called Bataneotis ; so that in those
passages we have no evidence of contradiction.
infidels have objected to the credibility of the evangelists on ac-
count of the seeming contradiction in the title which was written
over Jesus Ghrist when on the cross. Matthew has it, This is
Jesus thb Kino of the Jews. Mark has it, The Kino of the
Jews. Luke has it. This is the Kino of the Jews; and John
says, Pilate wrote a title and put it on tlie cross, and the writing
was, Jesus of Nazareth the JCino of the Jews. To this ob-
jection, Mr. Home has given the following answer: ** It is not impos-
sible that it (the title) varied in each of the languages in which that
* Biihop Home*! Works, vol. ri. 618.
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tSt OBJECTIONS STATEb AND ANSWERED.
aocu8ation or superscription was written ; for bodi Luke and John say
that it was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew* We may, then*
reasonably suppose Matthew, who wrote for the Jews, to have recited
^ Hebrew,
THIS IS
JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And John the Greek :
JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THl2 JEWS.
K it should be asked, why tht Naznrent was omitted in the He-
brew, and we must assign a reason for Pilate's humor, perhaps we
may thus account for it. He might be informed that Jesus, in He-
brew, denoted a Saviour, and as it carried more appearance of such
an appellative or general term by standing alone, he might* choose, by
, dropping the epithet the Nazarene, to leave the. sense so ambiguous
that it might be thus understood :
TPIS IS
A SAVIOUR THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Pilate, as little satisfied with the Jews as with himself on that day,
meant the inscription, which was his own, as a dishonor to the na-
tion; and thus set a momentous verity before them, with as much
design of declaring it as Caiphas had of prophec3ring, HuU Jesta
ihotdd die for the people. The ambiguity not holding in Greek, the
Nazareru might be there inserted in scorn again of the Jews, by de-
nominating their king from a city which they held in utter contempt
Let us npw view the Latin. It is not assuming much to suppose,
that Pilate would not concern himself much with Hebrew names, nor
risk an impropriety in speaking and writing them. It was thopght es-
sential to the dignity of a Roman magistrate in the times of the re-
public, not to speak but in Latin on public occasions ; of which spi-
rit the empeW Tiberius retained so much, that in an oration to the
senate, he apologized for using a Greek word : and once when draw-
ing up a decree, advised them to erase another, that had been insert-
ed in it. And, though the magistrates in general, were then become
more condescending to the Greeks, they retained this point of state
with regard to the other nations, whose languages they esteemed
barbarous, and would give themselves no trouble of acquiring. Pilate,
indeed, according to Matthew, asked at our Lord's trial, "Whom
will ye that I release unto you — ^Barabbas, or iJesus which is edled
Christ?" But we judge this to be related, as the interpreter by
whom he spoke delivered it, in Hebrew ; for if the other evangelists
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 221
hare given his exact words, he never pronoanced the name of Jesus*
hat spoke of him all along hy a periphrasis : « Will ye that I release
unto you the king of the Jews ? What will ye that I shall do unto
him, whom ye call the king of the Jews ?'' Thus he acted in con-
ference with ^e rulers, and then ordered a Latin inscriptionp without
mixture of foreign words, just as Mark repeats it:
THE KING OF THE JEWS;
which is followed hy Luke, only that he has hrought down this i$
from ahove, as having a common reference to what stood under it,
THIS IS
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Thus it is evident that there were variations in the inscriptions, and
that the Latin was the shortest ; but it is equ^ly evident that those
variations are not discrepancies or contradictions in the narratives of
the evangelists." »
According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus Christ was suspend-
ed upon the cross at the third hour of the day ; that is at nine o'clock
in the mdming — ^the sun was darkened at the sixth hour, and Jesus
gave up the ghost at the ninth hour. But according to John, the cru-
cifixion did not commence before the sixth hour (at mid-day.) 'Here,
says the Infidel, we have a palpable contradiction.
It is not to be supposed that John, who witnessed the crucifixion
of his Master, w^ ignorant of the length of time he was upon the
cross, being present during the whole scene, that he would substitute
three for six hours, the period of his punishment And what at once
solves the di^culty is, that it is to be traced to a mistranslation. Dr.
Clarke in his comment on the passage says, ** The major part of the
bes( critics think that the third (hour) is the genuine reading." Gaus-
sen says : ** If we consult the Greek manuscripts of St. John, we
find four in small letters, and three in uncial or capital letters, (among
others, the famous manuscript of Beza, preserved ' at Cambridge,)
which here read the third hour instead of the sixth hour. The num-
bers in the Greek manuscripts are often written in figures, that is by
sim]p1e Greek letters, and the 3d and the 6th being expressed by two
letters easily confounded, many ancients have thought that the varia-
tion was caused by this.'' It appears also that Griesbach, whose
learned labors have already been mentioned, noticed these variations,
and states that the chronicles of Alexandria, appealed in favor of this
* Horne'i Introdnctioii to the Study of the Scriptures, yoL L pp. 583, 583.
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222 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED
leading to better copies, and eren to &e oripnal antograph of the got-'
pel of St. John.
There is another class of objections growing oat of seeming con-
tradictiond* between the evangelists and profane authors.
Example. Luke sa3rs (ii. 1» 2.) <*It came to pass in^^ose days,
that there went out a decree from Cesar Augostos, that all the world
should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Gjreoius
wais governor of S3nria.*' This census, said to have been ordered bj
the emperor Augustus, is represented as having taken place at the time
of the birth of Jesus Christ. • The Infidel asserts that Luke is not to
be credited, because he says, ** ibis taxing was made when Cyrenius
was governor of Syria ;'* whereas Syria at that time was governed
by Quintilius Varua: s second census was made under Cyrenius ; but
he was not sent into the east until at leaat eleven or twelve years after
this period, when Jesus Christ is represented to have been bom.
And Josephus informs us that the first numbering was made in the
thirty-seventh year after -the defeat of Antony ; and Jesus Christ is
represented to have beei^ bom at the latest, twenty-six years after that
event. *
Before giving the replies which have been made to this objection,
it muf be well to remark, it is extremely impossible that Luke, who
was the only one of the evangelists who was learned, and who was
writing a book for all natimis, and so limited 4hat it is comprised in
twenfy-four pages, should fall into so gross a mistake as to place an
event of such importance in the days of Herod the Qreat, which* had
occurred thirty years before. He has shown that he was perfectly
acquainted with the condition of Judea as it was in the fifteenth year
of Tiberius, for he has set down the several ^tetraJrchs and. govemois
of it, and the extenf of their territories, and his statements in these
respects 'are fully supported by profane history.
He certainly understood the nature of enrollments, as made by the
Romans. This is evident from the fbllowing language,. «* Joseph
went to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife." By undoubted tes-
timonies it has been shown, that according to Ae custom of the Ro-
mans, women as well as men were enrolled ; but among the Jews,
the men only were enrolled. Luke was also well acquamted widi
^e census of which Josephus gives an account ; for in the Acts, t.
37. he represents Gamaliel as saying, <* After this man, rose up Ju-
das of Gidilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew away much peo-
ple after him ; he also perished; and as many as obeyed him were
dispersed.^ Had Luke made so glaring a mistake as is imputed to
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. MS
hilly and concerning a circumstance which most have been notorioua .
among Aose to whom his writings were presented, his writings must
have been discredited among his contemporaries, and he disgraced.
Many solutions of this difficulty have been attempted ; some of them
iallacious. By learned men the difficulty is traced to a mistransla-
tion. Dr. Lardner devotes many pages of his elaborate wprk to the
elucidation of it, and most satisfactorily vindicates Luk^ from the
commission of any mistake in this matter : his argument however is
too long to be introduced here. Dr. Adam Clarke, in his comment on
the passage, says, ** Onp or the other of the two following, appears
to me to be the true meaning of the text
When Augustus published this decree, it is supposed that Quiri-
nos (Cyrenius,) who was a very active man, and a person in whom
the emperor confided, was sent into S3rria and Judea, with extraoT'
dinary powers, to make the census here mentioned ; though, at that
time, he was not governor of Syria^ for Quintilius Varus was then
presi^nt; and that when he came ten or twelve jezn after into the
^sidency of S3nria, there was another census made» to both of which
St. Luke alludes, when he says, Tliia was the first assessment of
Cyrenius governor of Syrian for so Dr. Lardner translates the words.
The passage thus translated, does not say that thiq assessment was
made when C3rrenins was governor of Syria, which would not have
been the truth; but that this was the first assessment which Cyrenius,
who was (i. e. afterwards) governor of Syria, made ; soon after he
became governor he made a second^ This is the opinion which is
advocated in a very masterly manner by Dr. Lardner. Dr. Clai^
.then proceeds to give t)ie second way of solving the difficulty, which
is his own, viz: <*By translating the words thus: TTUs enroUmenl^
was mitde bbfoss Cyrenius was governor of S3nria ; or before that
of Cyrenius." He also says that some critics translate the passage,
This enrollment was made befpre that of Cyrenius. AtichaeKSf
and some other eminent and learned men, have been of this opinion ;
bat their conjecture is not supported by any MSS. yet discovered, nor,
indeed, is there any occasion for it. M. Gaussen, on die passage,
says, " It is a parenthesis. According to the accent which is placed
on the first word, it seems a demonstrative pronoun, or a pronominal
adjective ; and in this altemadve the phrase must be translated literally
in the first case by this first enrollment $ and in the second case by
the very first enrollment.**
The same author says : <• There is nothing, then, in St. Luke's
narrative, that is not entirely natOral and exact. After havmg spoken
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224 OBiECTIOIfS STAXES AND ANSWERED.
in the first verse of an ordinance of Augustus, which began to be ex-
ecuted under Herod's reign, he apprises us, in the parenthesis of the
second verse, that^ this enrollment must not be confounded with the
. too famous census of which all Judea still preserved such .tragical
recollections. ** The very first enrollment,'* 'says he, " was made
while Gyrenius was yet governor of Syria.*' This is the simple an!!
literal translation of die Greek.'* *
Some Infidels have foolishly objected to the account given by Mark
(xi. 11 — 14.) of Jesus cursing the fig-tree which had only leaves.
They say, why curse the tree for barrenness, when,, as it was not the
season for gathering figs, it could not have been expected that they
would be found upon it ? But if it had been the season of figs, its bar-
renness could not have been determined simply from the fruit, of
which it might already have been stripped. But the Infidel still 6b^
jects, why punish it? the tree was not guilty for not bearing fruit.
To this it is jreplied,'the mira<^le was a type, and designed to convey
to those present an instructive lesson, and the tree was no more nn-
. happy than it was guilty, as its morality was not real, neither were its
sttfierings.
Notwithstanding that the New Testament Scriptures breathe a spi-
rit of the purest and most difiusively benevolent morality, Taylor, and
other Infidels of the same class, object against some of the writings of
the apostles, that they countenance immorality. The ^following in-
stance we give from Taylor. In Romans iii. 7. this passage occurs,
" For, if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his
glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner ? '' This passage, Mr. T.
asserts, recommends telling lies for the glory of God. That the true
meaning of the passage may be seen, we tranlBcnbe the connection.
" What advantage then hath the Jew ? or what profit is there of cir-
cumcision ? Much every way : chiefly because that unto them were
committed the oracles of God. For, what if some did not believe ?
shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect t God for-
bid : yea, let Gk^d be true, and every man a liar; as it is written. That
thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when
thou art judged.. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteous-
ness of God, what shall we say? is God unrighteous who taketh
vengeance ? (I speak as a man.) God forbid*: for then how shall' God
judge the world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded
through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner f
* GamBen, p. 130.
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND AN8WEBE9. 3M
And not rather (as we be slanderoualy reported, and as some affirm
liiat we say) let us do evil, that good may come : whose damnation is
jnst What then ? art wt better than tkeyf No, in no wiise ; for we
hare before, proved both Jews and Gendiesy that they are all nnder
sin.'!
The kpostl^ is here debating with a Jewv and the passage contains
his supposed objections, with Paul's replies. It may be thus lenp
dered.
Jew. What then is the advantage of the Jew? or what the benefit
of the circumcision T i
Reply. Much in every respect; but principally in &at the oraeles
of God have been intrusted (to the Jewish nadon.)
Jew.. Yet still, since some acted unfaithfully^ does not their nnfiith-
fulness abeUsh the credibility of God ?
Reply. Far l)e the thought But let €U>d be acknowledged sin«
cere, if even every mau should be proved false, as it is written, ii^
(see Psalm ii. 5.) ^
Jew. But what shall we say if our disobedieni^ set in an adv)m">
tageous position, the justice of God ? wquld not God be unjust in
inflicting punishment upon us T (I am speaking as some men proba-*
Uy would do.) *
Reply. Far be the thought In that case how could God judge the
world!
Jew. Tet, if by my violation of faithfulness, the sinoenty of God
is displayed in 'a more gloriofis manner, w^y am I still condemned ar
an offender ? and why should not the maxim be admitted T
Parentheiii interjected by the apoeUe in hie oumperean.
(As we are calumniated, and some affirm that we say) that we do
bad actions, that good results may come (of them.)
Reply. Whose condemnation ia (peculiarly) just
Jew. How then ? have we the preference (over the sinfiil woild t)
Reply. In no respect
Before closing this section it may be necessary to notice some of
the other misrepresentatidns of Mr. Taylor, which by a certain class
of Infidels in this country are seized upon with great avidity, and held
up as unanswerable arguments against the credibility of the New Tes«
tkment Scriptures.
Ist He asserts that Jesus Christ, according to the evangdists
themselves, was not crucified; but that a metamorphosis took place
between him and Simon the Cyrenian, who was crucified in his
stead, while Jesus stood by and mocked at the Jews.
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226 OBJECTIONS ©TATIsD AND ANSWERBB.
H^ says, «< In the reading of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the insig-
nificant, useless, and 4iever again, or any where else, mentioned per-
sonage, Simon theCyrenian^ is lugged in, with no chaonuner to sustain,
having nothing to do or say in relaveney to the business in hand."
Again he says, that *< the plain and grammatical construction of the
text, as it should be read upon a trial for* murder, it should really ap-
pear that it was Simon the C3rrenian who was crucified." Again he
intimates that there was a^real mistake, or substitution of Simon (as
he is called the father of Alexander and .Rufus) is evidently implied
by Jesus himself, in these words addressed to Simon; «<Fa&er, for-
give them ; for they know not what they do."
Simon tl)e Gyreniaii was introduced fox* the following very natural
and good* reason. Jesus (as has already been shewn,'as was custom-
ary with those who were thus executed) was obliged to carry the cros«
on which he was to be crucified ; but being exhausted, psurtly by the
unjust treatment he had just received, and partly by the weight of the
cross, fainted and fell down under the cruel load.
Simon, who it appears was accidentally passing by, and who most
probably was known to be attached to Jesus, was seized and comh
polled to. carry the cross. Simon is mentioned by name, because he
was the father of Alexander and Rufus, both of whom were persons
> who appear to have been well known to the first Christians. And
there is reason to believe that one of them was the Alexander mna-
tioned in Acts, (xix. 33.) and the other the Ruius introduced as s *
resident at Rome, (Romans xvi. 13.) With respect to the ridicnlous
assertion that " the plain and grammatical construction of the texls^*
in either of the evangelists, purport that Simon was crucified as the '
substitute of Jesus ; every person of common sense who is capable
of reading the New Testament can judge for himself, and the condu*
sion of all must be that the man who dared to utter such an outrageous
falsehood is utterly unworthy of credit in any statement he may
make.
In Acts (xv.) there is the following passage : *< Paul also and Bar-
nabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching tiie word^of the
Lordi with many others also. And seven days after, Paul said unto
Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where
we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And
Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was
Mark. But Pdul thought not good to take him with them, who de-
parted from them at Pamphylia, and went not with them to the woriL.
And the contention was so Bharp between them, ^t they departed
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OBJEGTIONa STATED AND ANSWERED. 237
asander one from the other ; and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed
vnto Cypress ; and JPanl chose Silas and departed, being recommended
to the brethren by the grace of Gk)d." Upon this passage Mr. Tay-
lor fouifids an asgertion that Paul and Barnabas did not '< preach the
same story,'* because, says he, *< they quarrelled so bitterly, and like
all other good Christians, never have been reconciled."
The dissension which took place between Paul and Barnabas was
Aot •* a bitter quarrel ;'* and so far from their never having become re-
conciled, they subsequendy co-operated with great cordiality. That
dissension, so far from proving that they did not ** preach the same
story," implies the strongest proof that they did. It shows that they
both preached the truth ; for their conduct proves that they had no fear
for their cause. Had they been impostors, necessity would have com-
piled them to have reconciled the difficulty ; for then it would have
required close combination, and mutpal aid to support their fraud.
But they knew their cause to be of such a nature that it required no
cpllusion, and feared no disclosures.
The fact that there was a contention between Paul and Barnabas
does not imply, anger o^ ill will on either side. It is. true they diffinred
in opinion with regard to the necessity of taking Mark on the pro-
posed mission ; they were strenuous, each in support of the course
he had adopted. PauFs reason for not thinking it good to take Mark
with them^ as assigned in the text, was that he had departed from
them when in Pamphylia. .
Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, and when Jie .departed firom
them, it ia probtable he went to see his pious mother Mary, at Jerusa-
lem, and Peter, to whom he is supposed to have been much attached ;
or, as some learned men mamtain, because he shrunk from lab6rs and
dangers, which, they say, is not obscurely intimated in the original,
where it is said he went not, with them to the work. Be this at it
may, Paul, who respected no man's person, appears to have beto dis-
pleased at his conduct on that occasion, and being fearful of his con-
stancy, would not agree that he should accompany them. But Bar-
nabas feeling an attachment for his near kinsman, and being a very
gentle and kindly disposed man, wished again to take hkn on their
journey.
Mark himself appears to have bebn benefited, and the interest of
Christianity to have been promoted by Paul's severity on that occa-
sion ; for, by his admonitions, Mark became for the future more cour-
ageous, and the Gospel of Christ was thereby preached at the same
time in different places, and so became more extensively propagated.
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228 OBJECTIONS STATED AND AN8WEBED*
Thii this disflension did not break the bond of friendship between
Paul and Barnabas is evident from what is said, 1 Cor. ix. 6. More-
over, afterwards, Panl received Mark to his cordial friendship, as the
reader may see by consulting GoL iv« 10 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2, and Phil^
mon 23. , . .
Paul says, (1 Cor. i. 28.) " We preach Christ crucified, unto tlM
Jews a stumblii^ block, and unto the Greeks foolishness."
Mr. Taylor, with his iusual hardihood, attempts to dieat his leaden
into the belief, that others preached a Christ who was not crucified^
He says : <* Why should Paul so emphatically say, that when he-and
his party preached Jesus Christ, they preached H« cvueified ; if
therewere none who, at the same time, were preaching a direcsdy eoA-
trary doctrine, namely, Jesus Christ not crucified ? "
No man in his senses caa believe, that this passage implies tfaene
were preadiers of Christianity, who preached a *« Christ not cm*
dfied."
The meaning obviously is, that to the bigoted Jews^^ who expected
the Messiah to be a mighty temporal prince, &e meek, lowly, impo-
I verished, and erucified Jesus was an object df ofience; and to the
philpsophising Gre^, it seemed most unreasonable to proclaim hf^
piness through a man who in Judea had died a malefactmr* But the
apostles gloried in knowing the importance and value of the death oi
Christ as a maleliBLCtor.
Paul says, (2. Cor. xi. 13.) << For such are frdse apostles, deeeil-
ful workers — ^transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."
He also says ; (Phil. iiL 2.) *< Beware of dogs, beware of evil work-
err; beware of the concision." Mr. Taylor on these passages assertis»
that " Paul calls the other apostles, false apostles and dogs." Paul
in these passages, doe? not refer to the other aposdes, but to certain
^alse teachers, who labored to bring the Gentile churches under sitt^
ju^tion to the cremonial law. In those days the t^rm dog did nol
sound so harshly and rudely in men's ears, as it does in ours. The
Jews termed the heathen nations dogs. The Greeks were so far from
viewing it an insulting epithet, diat Diogenes the. philosopher took it
as his own title, to express that bluntness of manners, on which he
prided himself. And his disciples gloried in die designation of Cyn-
ics, or the doggUh. The apostle evidently uses it to describe thooe
whose moral character was bad, contentious, reviling, ferocious and
•elfish.
Paul ^ys, (1 Cor. xvi. 22.) " K any man love not the Lord Jeeos
Christ, let himbe anathema maranatha." Upon this paisage Mr. Tsy*
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. £29
lor* with his nsual aadacity, asserts that Paul curses jthe other apostles
** with the most bitter execrations.'* He also says, (Oil, ▼• 12.) «« {
would that they were even cat off which troable you." This pas-
sage, Mr. T. construes into a recommendation that the other apostles
should be privately assassinated.
With respect to the first passage, so far from its referring to the
other apostles, it evidently referred to unbelieving Jews, who, as
appears from chap. zii. 8., pretending to be under the Spirit and
teaching of God, called Jesus accursed, that is, one who should be
devoted to destruction. Therefore these men were enemies of Chris*
tianity, and of all goodness. But Paul does not curse them with
bitter execrations ; on the contrary he refers them to Hm who can-
not err. He declares that such persons should not be continued in
membership with the Corinthian church; and to exclude such an
one is doing no injury, for he has' already declared practically that he
is alienated and disaffected. The meaning of the passage is thus given
by some : <* If any person prove himself by his wicked conduct to be
an enemy to the doctrine and authority of Christ, let him not remain
in communion with the church, which ought to consist of none but
the sincere and upright ; but let not human vengeance visit in causes
purely religious; leave them to Hm whose judgment cannot err;
»*Thb Lord combth."
Dr. Clarke, in his comment on the passage, says : «* It is generally
allowed that the apostle refers here, to some of the modes of excom-
munication among the Jews, of which there were three.
1. Niddtn^ which signified a simple separation or exclusion of a
man from the synagogue and from his wife and &mily for thirty days.
2. Cherem^ which was inflicted on him who had borne the Nid*
4uij and who had not in the thirty days made proper compensation
in order to be reconciled . to the synagogue. This was inflicted with
dire execrations, which he was informed must all come upon him, if
he did not repent. But the cherem always ea^pipoBed place for repent'
mice.
8. Schammatha. This was the direet of all, and cut off all hope of
reconciliation and repentance ; af^ which the man was neither re-
concilable to the S3magogue, nor acknowledged as belonging to the
Jewish nation."*
With respect to GhJ. v. 12. <* I would ^t they were even cut off
which trouUe you." The meaning evidently ii, ^t they might be
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230 OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.
cut off, or excommunicated from the church. The whole passage is
parallel to that of 1 Cor. r. 6, 7., where speaking of the incestuous
person, Paul says to the church at Corinth, *< Your glorying is not
good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as ye
are unleavened."
Eusebius, (who as we have seen, flourished during the fourth cen-
tury,) from a description given by Philo the Jew, of the Therapeutn,
who dwelt chiefly in the neighborhood of Alexandria, very absurdly
supposed them to have been a sect of Christians. Taylor, as his last
refuge, seizes on this groundless supposition, and impudently asserts
that Christianity had its origin among this people ; while other Infi-
dels pretend to believe that the Essences were the originators of
Christianity. All that is necessary to expose the unreasonableness
of both of these suppositions, is to lay before the reader the following
description of those sects as given by Mr. Watson in his Theological
Dictionary.
«« ESSE;NES, or ESSENIANS, one of the three ancient sects of
the Jews. They appear to have been an enthusiastic sect, never nu-
merous, and but little known ; directly opposite to the Pharisees widi
respect to their reliance upon tradition, and their scrupulous regard to
the ceremonial law, but pretending, like them, to superior sanctity of
manners. They existed in the time of our Saviour ; and though they
are not mentioned in the New Testament, they are supposed to be al-
luded to by St. Paul in his Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians,
and in lus first Epistle to Timothy. From the account given of the
doctrines and institutions of this sect by Philo and Josephus, we learn
that they believed in the immortality of the soul ; that they were ab-
solute predestinarians ; that they observed the seventh day with pe-
culiar strictness ; that they held the Scriptures in the highest rever-
ence, but considered them as mystic writings, and expounded them al-
legorically; that they sent giAs to the temple, but oflfered no sacrifi-
ces ; that they admitted no one into their society till after a probati<m
of three years ; diat they lived in a state of perfect equally, except
that they paid respect to the aged, and to their priests ; that they con-
sidered all secular employment as unlawful, except that of agricul-
ture ; that they had all things in common, and were industrious, quiet»
and free from every species of vice ; that they held celibacy and soli-
tude in high esteem ; that they allowed no change of raiment till ne-
cessity required it; that they abstained from wine; that they were
not permitted to eat but with their own sect; and ^t a certain por-
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OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED. 281
tion of food was allotted to each person, of which they partook to-
gether, after solemn ablutions. The austere and retired life of the
Essenes is supposed to have given rise to monkish superstition.
The Therapeutffi were a distinct branch of the Essenes. Jahn has
thus described the difference between them : The principal ground
of difference between the Essenes or Essaei and Therapeutse, con-
sisted in this; the former were Jews, who spake the Aramean; the
latter were Greek Jews, as the names themselves intimate, namely,
ITDM and 0epartcv^(u. The Essenes lived chiefly in Palestine; the
Therapeutae, in Egypt. The Therapeutae were more rigid than the
Essenes, since the latter, although they made it a practice to keep at a
distance from large cities, lived, nevertheless, in towns and villages,
and practised agriculture and the arts, with the exception of those arts
which were made more directly subservient to the purposes of war.
The Therapeutse, on the contrary, fled from all inhabited places,
dwelt in fields and deserts and gardens, and gave themselves up to
contemplation. Both the Essenes and the Therapeutae held their
property in common, and those things which they stood in need of
for the support and the comforts of life, were distributed to them from
the common stock. The candidates for admission among the Es-
senes gave their property to the society ; but those who were des-
tined for a membership with the Therapeutse, left theirs to their
friends ; and both, after a number of years of probation, made a pro-
fession which bound them to the exercise of the strictest uprightness.
The Romanists pretend, as Dr. Prideaux observes, without any foun-
dation, that the Essenes were Christian monks, formed into a society
by St. Mark, who founded the first church at Alexandria. But it is
evident, from the accounts of Josephus and Philo, that the Essenes
were not Christians, but Jews.'*
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S8S DIVINE A^UTHOBITT AND
CHAPTER VI,
DIVINE AUTHORITT AND INSPIRATION OF THE SdUPTURES.
Haying examined the claims of the Old and New Testament
Scriptures to genuineness, authenticity, and credibility, by the strict-
est rules of testimony, both historical and moral ; and having thereby
proiced that we can open them with the fullest confidence ; that they
were written by the persons whose names they bear ; and that they
are entided beyond all other writings to credit, on the ground of ve-
racity, and trust-worthiness : it follows, as a necessary consequence,
that the religion taught in them is of divine origin*
But as honest men may err, not indeed in facts which they relate
from their own knowledge, but in inferences from them, in precepts
and doctrines. Therefore, however fully we may be convinced of the
general truth of the religion taught in the Scriptures, could we urge
nothing more in behalf of the writers, in the examination of the
nature of that religion, its doctrines, precepts, and promises, perfect
confidence could not be exercised in the detailed accounts, for the tes«
timony would only be human.
l*herefore we now proceed to the last branch of our great argu-
ment, which is, to show that the writers of the books Were divinelf/
inspired.
As the proofs by which the inspiration of the writers of the Old
and New Testament, are exceedingly clear and of great force, and
the most of the objections urged by Infidels being grounded upon the
supposition that the books are forgeries, the fallacy of which has
been most clearly shown, it will not be necessary on this branch of
the argument, to dwell so lengthily as has been done on the other to-
pics which have been under discussion. We will not detain the rea-
der to shew from the reasonableness and necessity of the thing it-
self, that the writers of the Scriptures were inspired ; but we will
proceed at once to state what is to be understood by the term inspira*
tion, as applied to the writers, and also to the Scriptures themselves,
and then adduce the proofs by which the inspiration of the Scrip-
tures are supported. By the inspiration of the writers, we under-
stand a miraculous operation of the Spirit of God, by which certain
extraordinary notices or thoughts are communicated to the minds of
those who are its subjects. As the Scriptures have not presented to
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INSPIRATION OP THE 8CRIPTURBS. 288
us the mode by which this mfluence was exercised, nor yet have de-
fined to OS its different degrees— on these subjects we are not prepar-
ed to en)er upon an explanation. None but an Atheist can deny the
possibility of the exercise of this inflaence by the Omnipotent God
upon the minds of men, and our inability to define thd mode and the
measure, is no argument against the/oc/. *
* Whh respect to the inipiration of the Scriptares, we altogether differ with those
writers who hold that any portion, however smaU or however trifling in the estima-
tion of men, is not inspired. The entire Bible, every word of it, is inspired. To
maintain the contraiy opinion is, in effect, to yield the whole field to the Infidel ;
for who is to judge what portions are, and what are not inspired ? Admit that a
single passage is uninspired, and the Infidel of right enters the armory and takes
away what weapons he pleases, and if he can cany off a single one, he has an
equal right to take them all. Moreover, if the entire Bible be not inspired, one por*
tion of it equally so with another, we are in no better condition than the church of
Rome, with her traditions and her apocryphal books. For according to this hypo-
thesis our Bible is in part made up of the uninspired sayings of Joshua, Solomon,
Paul, Peter and others. Therefore to adopt the sentiment of Mr. Kirk, in his trans-
lation of Gaussen, * God designed that the writers of the Old and New Testament
Scriptures should say just what they did say, and he secured their saying it in their
own way, but exactly as it should be, even to an iota and a titUe.'
To enter at large upon an argument to sustain our position against professing
Qhristians, who upon reading these pages wiU object to it, would lead us from our
proper subject But we cannot pass on, without stating a few of the many objec-
tions urged by such persons, especially as we have reason to beli^ve that many
sincere Christians are in great error upon this subjeet ; and the day is assuredly at
hand when Infidels will compel the advocates of Revelation, to take the only true
and proper ground — the entire inspiration of the Sacred Books.
Such objections as the following are often urged, not only by Infidels, but by pro-
fessing Christians. * It is derogatory to the character of God that his Spirit should
dictate to the mind of Paul, the vulgar details into which he sometimes descends
in his letters ; those counsels to Timothy concerning his stomach and his often in-
firmities ; or those commissions with regard to his parchments and a certain doak,
which he had left at the house of Carpus, at Troas, when he was leaving Asia.'
To such cavils as these the excellent Gaussen g^ves a most admirable answer, which
on account of its excellency, we present to the reader.
<*The reader wiU suffer us to beseech him to be cautious of this objection, when,
holding the Bible in his hands, he happens not to recognize on the first perusal, the
signs of God's hand in such or such a passage of the Word. Let those imprudent
hands not cast one verse of it out of the temple of the Scriptures. They hold an
eternal book, aU of whose authors have said with St Paul: 'And I think that I
too have the Spirit of the Lord!' If then, he does not yet see any thing divine in
such or such a passage, the fault is in him, and not in the patoage. . I^t him rather
say with Jacob: * Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not !' This book
can sustain the light of science; for it will bear that of the %st day. The heavens
and the earth shall pass; but none of its words shall fiul, not even to the least letter.
God declares to every one that heareth the words of this prophecy; that if any one
shall take away from the words of this book, God will take away his part from the
book of life.
Let us examine more closely the alleged passages. St Paul, from the depths of
his prison, sends for his cloak. He has left it at Uie house of Carpus, in 'IVoas, and
he entreats Timothy to hasten before winter, and not forget to bring it to him. This
domestic detail, so many thousand times objected against the inspiration of the
Scriptures, from the days of the Anomians, o( whom St Jerom spetJcs: this detail
seems to you too trivial for an apostolic book, or at least too insignificant and too
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284 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
Aj iiispintion is not impossible, the only question at issoe betwixt
the Deist and the Christian is this. Have the writers of the Old and
New Testament produced satisfactory evidences that they were the
subjects of supernatural influence ? This question admits of a clear
and decisive answer; for, as the existence of any power is demon*
strated by its operations, so the possession of supernatural knowledge
is established by the performance of supernatural works. And as an
acquaintance with any language is evinced by speaking it with ease
and propriety, so the gift of inspiration is proved by the foretelling
of future events with precision.
- Therefore, if it can be shown, that the authors of the dispensations
fareign from all practical utility, for the dignity <^ inspiration. Unhappy, however,
ii he who does not perceiTe its pathetic grandeur.
Jeaufl Christ also, on the day of his death, spoke of his cloak and of his vestoie.
Wooki YOU hare this pasmge taken away from the inspired volume? It was after a
night of fatigue and anguish. They had led him about the streets of Jerusalem for
seven successive hours, by the light of torches, from street to street, from tribunal to
tribunal, bufleting him, covering him with a veil, striking his head with staves. The
morrow's sun was not yet risen, before they had bound hia hands with cords, to l^d
him again from the high priest's house to Pilate*s Pretorium. There, lacerated
with rods, bathed in his own blood, then delivered for the last punishment, to fero-
cious soldiers, he had seen his garments all stripped off, that they might clothe him
in a scarlet robe, whilst they bowed the knee before him, placed the reed in hk
hands, and spit upon his hce. Then, before laying his cross upon his bruised frvme,
they had replaced his garments upon his wounds, to lead him to Calvary; but, when
thev were about to prt^eed to the execution, they took them away for the third time;
and it u then that, stripped of every thing, first his cloak, tbcni his coat, &en of
even his under-dress, he must die naked upon the malefactor^s gibbet, in the view of
an immense multitude. Was there ever seen under heaven, a man, who has not
found these details, touching, sublime, inimitable 1 And was one ever seen, who,
from the account of this death, thought of retrenching as useless or too vulgar, the
history of these garments which they divided among them,— H)r of this cloak for
which they cast lots ! Has not infidelity itself said, in speaking of it, that the
majesty of the Scriptures astonished it, that their simplicity spoke to its heart; that
the death of Socrates was that of a sage, but Jesus Christ^s, that of a God ! — and
if the divine inspiration was reserved for a mere portion of the holy books, would it
not be for these very details ! Would it not be for the history of that love, which,
after having lived upon the earth poorer than the birds of the air and the foxes of
the field, was willing to die still poorer, deprived of all, even to its cloak and its
tmder-garmenti, and £utened naked to the malefactor's gU>bet with the arms extend-
ed and nailed to the wood ? Ah I be not solicitous for the Holy Spirit ; he has
not derogated from his own majesty; and so far from thinking that he was stoop-
ing too low, in announ^ng these &cts to the world, he had hastened to recount thaa
to it; and that too a thousand years in advance. At the period of the Trojan war
he was already singing them upon the harp of David : * They have pierced my
hands and my feet,' said he, *they look and stare upon me, they part my garments
among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.' (Psalm xviL 18, 19.; John zix.
33,84.)
But It is the same Spirit who would show us St Paul writing to Timo&y, and
requesting him to bring his cloak. Hear him ; he too is stripped of every thing.
In his youth he was already eminent, a favorite of princes, admired of all ; but now
he has left every thing for Christ. It is now thirty years and more, that he has been
poor, in labon more ^an the others, in wounds more than diey, in prison oftener ;
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INSPIRATION or THE SCRIPTURES. 2U
contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament did per-
form miracles ; and that the writers of the hooks did predict future
events, which fbimd a precise accomplishment, then that great truth
will he established. The religion taught in the Scriptures was com-
municated to man by God himself; for the performance of uncon-
trolled miracles, or the delivery of true predictions must communicate
to every sane mind the conviction that the persons by whom they
were performed, were employed by God, to reveal to men his will
concerning them, and their duties to their Creator and to each other.
The great criteria, therefore, by which the divine authority of the
sacred writings are to be tested, are ndracles, and prophecy.
five times he had received of the Jews forty stripes save one ; thrice was he beaten
wkh rods ; once he was stoned ; thrice he has simered shipwreck ; often in jonmey-
ings; in perils upon the sea, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert; in watchings
oft, in hunger and in thirst, in cold and nakedness (we quote his own words). Hear
him now; behold him advanced in age; he is in his last prison; he is at Rome; he
is expecting his sentence of death ; he has fought the good fight ; he has finished
his course, he has kept the fiiith ; but he is cold, winter is coming on, and he is i>oor-
ly clad ! Buried in a dungeon of the Mamertine prisons, he is so much despised,
that all the very Christians of Rome are ashamed of him, and that at his first ap-
pearing, no man was willing to befriend him. Yet, he received, ten years before,
while a prisoner at Rome, and loaded with chains, at least some money from the
Phiiippians ; who, knowing his sufferings, united together in their indigence to send
him some succor. But now, behold him forsaken; no one but iSt Luke is with
him; all have abandoned him; winter is approaching. He would need a cloak; he
has left his own, two hundred leagues ofi; at the house of Carpus in Troas; and no
one in the cold prisons of Rome would lend him one. Has he not then left every
thing, with joy, for Christ; has he not esteemed all the gloiy of this world as dross
that he mig^t win Christ; and does he not suffer all things cheerfully for the elect's
sake 1 (PbiL iii. 8. ; % Tim. IL 10.) We were ourselves at Rome, last ^ear, in a
hotel, on a rainy day, in the beginning of November. Chilled by the piercing damp-
ness of the cold evening air, we had a vivid conception of the holy apostle in the
subterranean dungeons of the caintol, dictating the last of his letters, regretting
the absence <^ his cloak, and entreating Timothy to bring it to him before the
winter!
Who wooU then take from the inspired epistles so striking and pathetic a fea-
ture? Does not the Holy Spirit carry you to the prison of Paul, to astonish you
with this tender self-renunciation and this sublime poverty; just too, as he shewed
^ou with your own eyes, his charity; sometime before, when he made him write
m his letter to the Phiiippians: *I weep in writing to you, because there are many
among you who mind earthly things, whose end is destruction V Do you not seem
to see him in his prison, loaded with chains, while he is writing, and tears are falling
upon his parchment? And does it not seem to you that you behold that poor body,
to-day miserably clothed, suffering and benumbed ; to-morrow beheided and dragged
to the Tiber, in expectation of the day when the earth shall give up her dead, and the
sea the dead which are in it; and when Christ shall transform our nle bodies, to make
them like unto his own glorious body ? And if these details are beautiful, think you
they are not also useful? And if they are already useful to him who reads them as
a simple historical truth, what will they not become to him who believes in their
Theopneusty, and who savs to himself: Oh my soul, these words are written by
Paul; but it is thy God who addresses them to thee ? Who can tell the force and
consolation, whicn, by their very fiuniliarity and naturalness, they have for eighteen
centuries, conveyed into dungeons and huts ! Who can count the poor and the .
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286 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
1st. The perfonnance of miracles, by the authors of the dispCTsa-
tions contained in the Old and New Testament, prove that their au-
thors were the subjects of supernatural influence, and the religion
they taught is of God. A miracle may be thus defined ; an event
which, supposing a given <^nnection of time, place and persons,
would not have come to pass in the ordinary course of things, but
for the instrumental causality of which the divine plan had fixed the
requisite provision. It is no less a part of ** the immutability of his
counsel," than is any other fact in the series of God's operations. It
b a deviation from the ordinary course of events, but accomplished
martyn, to whom such |w«nge8 hste given enconngement, example and joy 1
We just now remember, in Switxerland, the pastor Juvet, to whom a coverlet waa
refused, twenty years ago, in the prisons of the Canton de Vaud. We remember
that Jerom of rrague, shut up for three hundred and forty days in the dungeons
of Constance, at the bottom of a dark and loathsome tower, and going out only to
appear before his murderers. Nor have we forgotten the holy Bi^p Hooper, quit>
ting lus dark and dismal dungeon, with wretched clothes and a borrowed dcKsk, to
go to the scaffold, supported upon a staff^ and bowed by the sciatica. Venera^
brethren, happy martyn; doubtless you then remembered your brother Paul, shut
up in the prison of Rome, suffering from cold and nakedness, asking for his cloak!
Ah ! unfortunate he, who does not see the sublime humanly, the tender grandeur,
the fore-eeeing and divine sjrmpathy, the depth and the charm of such a mode of
teaching! But still more unfortunate perhaps he, who declares it human, because
he does not comprehend it We would here quote the beautiful remarks of the re-
spectable Haldane on this verse of St Paul. * This passage, if you consider the
place it occupies in this e}Hstle, and in the solemn farewells c( Paul to his disciples,
presents this apostle to our view, in the situation most calculated to affect us. He
has just been before the emperor; he is about to finish his days by martyrdom; his
departure is at hand, the crown of righteousness is reserved for him ; behold him oa
the confines of two worlds; in this which he is about to leave, ready to be beheaded,
as p, malefeu^tor, by the orders of Nero ; in that which he is going to enter, crowned
as a just man by the Lord of lords; in this, abandoned of men ; in that, welcomed
b^ angels; in this, needing a poor cloak to cover him; in that covered with the
righteousness of the saints; clothed upon with his heavenly tabemade of light and
joy; 80 that mortality is swallowed up of life.'
Ah, rather than object to such a passage, thereby to deprive the Scriptures of their
infallibility, we should there recognize that wisdom of God, which, so often by one
single touch, has given us instructions, for which, without that, many pages would
have been necessary. We should adore that tender condescension, which, stoop-
ing even to our weakness, is pleased, not only to reveal to us the highest thoughts
of heaven in the simplest language of earth, but also to offer them to us under
forms so living, so dramatic, so penetrating, often compressing them in onier to ren-
der them more intelligible, within the narrow space of a single verse.
It is then thus that St Paul, by these words thrown at hazard even into the last
commission of a familiar letter, casts for us a rapid flood of light over his ministry,
and discovers to us by a word, the entire life of an apostle; as a single flash of light-
ning in the evening, illuminates in an instant, all the tops of our Alps; and as per-
sons sometimes show you all their soul by a single look."
Thus does Mr. Gaussen not only refute the objection urged against a passage of
Scripture, which among Infidels has long been a subject pf scorn, and which many
Christians have been asham'ed to acknowledge as dictated by the Holy Spirit; but he
also removes the veU and exhibits this precious gem in its true light, radiant with di-
vine glory.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. $87
by the determining will of the Supreme Being, through the agency
of the instmments proper in every case, and for purposes of the high-
est wisdom and goodness, requiring such an interposition. Indeed
inspiration itself is a miracle. Therefore, before Infidels can with
propriety urge their objections to the particular miracles on which its
credibility is based, they are bound to show the impossibility of any
miracle. Mr. Hume has objected against miracles, that they are
opposed to experience; therefore, the performance of them is incred-
ible. His argument is here presented :
«* There is, in Dr. Tillotson's writings, an argument against the
Beal Presence which is as concise, and elegant, and strong as any ar-
gument can possibly be supposed against a doctrine so litUe worthy
of a serious refutation. It is acknowledged on all hands, says that
learned prelate, that the autliority, eidier of the Scripture or of tradi-
tion, is founded merely in the testimony of the apostles, who wei^e
eye-witnesses to those miracles of our Saviour, by which he proved
his divne mission. Our evidence, then, for the truth of the Christian
religion is less than the evidence for the truth of our senses ; because,
even in the first authors of our religion, it was no greater; and it is
evident it must diminish in passing from them to their disciples ; nor
can any one rest such confidence in their testimony, as in the imme-
diate object of his senses. But a weaker eivdence can never destroy
a stronger; and therefore, were the doctrine of the Real Presence ever
so clearly revealed in Scripture, it were directly contrary to the rules
of just reasoning to give our assent to it. It contradicts sense, though
both the Scripture and tradition, on which it is supposed to be built,
carry not such evidence with them as sense, when they are consider-
ed merely as external evidences, and are not brought home to every
one^s breast, by the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit
Nothing is so convenient as a decisive argument of this kind, which
must at least silence the most arrogant bigotry and superstition, and
free us from their impertinent solicitations. I flatter myself, that I
have di/icovered an argument of a like nature, which, if just, will,
with the wise and learned, be an everlasting check to all kinds of su"
perstitious delusion, and consequently, will be useful as long as the
world endures. For so long, I presume, will the accounts of miracles
and prodigies be found in all history, sacred and profane.
Though experience be our only guide in reasoning concerning mat-
ters of fact ; it must be acknowledged, that this guide is not altogether
infallible, but in some cases is apt to lead us into errors. One, who
in our climate, should expect better weather in any week of Jvnb
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%$S DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
than in one of DscBMBERt would reason justly, and conformably to
experience ; but it is certain that he may happen, in the event, to find
himself mistaken. However, we may observe, that, in such a case,
be would have no cause to complain of experience ; because it com-
monly informs us beforehand of the uncertainty, by that contrarieQr
of events, which we may learn from a diligent observation. All ef-
fects follow not with like certainty from their supposed causes.
Some events are found, in all countries and all ages, to have been
constantly conjoined together. Others are found to have been more
variable, and sometimes to disappoint our expectations ; so that, in
our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable de-
grees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species
of moral evidence.
A wise man, dierefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. In
such conclusions as are founded on an infallible experience, he ex-
pects the event with the last degree of assurance, and regards his past
experience as a full proof of the future existence of that event In
other cases, he proceeds with more caution ; he weighs the opposite
experiments: he considers which side is supported by the greater
number of experiments : to that side he inclines, with doubt and hes-
itation, and when at last he fixes his judgment, the evidence exceeds
not what we properly call probability. All probability, then, sup-
poses an opposition of experiments and observations, where the one
side is found to overbalance the other, and to produce a degree of ev-
idence, proportioned to the superiority. A hundred instances or ex-
periments on one side and fiAy on another, afford a doubtful expecta-
tion of any event : though a hundred uniform experiments with only
one that is contradictory, reasonably beget a pretty strong degree of
assurance. In all cases, we must balance the opposite experiments^
where they are opposite, and deduct the smaller number from the
greater, in order to know the exact force of the superior evidence.
To apply these principles to a particular instance, we may observe^
that there is no species of reasoning more common, more useful, and
even necessary to human life, than that which is derived from the
testimony of men and the reports of eye-witnesses and spectators.
This species of reasoning, perhaps, one may deny to be founded on
the relation of cause and effect. I shall not dispute about a word. It
will be sufficient to observe, that our assurance' in any argument of
this kind is derived from no other principle than our observation of
the veracity of human testimony, and of the usual conformity of facts
to the reports of witnesses. It being a general maxim that no objects
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 280
hare any discoverable connexion together, and that all the inferences
mrlpch we can draw from one to another, are founded merely on onr
experience of their constant and regular conjunction ; it is evident that
we ought not to make an exception to this maxim in favor of human
testimony, whose connexion with any event seems in itself, as little
necessary as any other. Were not the memory tenacious to a certain
degree, had not men commonly an inclination to truth and a principle
of probity, were they not sensible to shame when detected in a false-
hood, were not these, I say, discovered by experience to be qualities
inherent in human- nature, we should never repose the least confidence
in human testimony. A man delirious or noted for falsehood and
villainy, has no manner of authority with us.
And as the evidence derived from witnesses and human testimony
is founded on past experience, so it varies with the experience, and is
regarded either as sl proof or ^ probability , according as the conjunc-
tion between any particular kind of report and any kind of object has
been found to be constant or variable. There are a nnmber of cir-
cumstances to be taken into consideration in all judgments of this
kind, and the ultimate standard, by which we determine sll disputes
that may arise concerning them, is always derived from experience
and observation. Where this experience is not entirely uniform on
any side, it is attended with an unavoidable contrariety in our judg-
ments, and with the same opposition and mutual destruction of argu-
ment as in every other kind of evidence. We frequently hesitate
concerning the reports of others. We balance the opposite circum-
stances which cause any doubt or uncertainty, and when we discover
a superiority on any side we incline to it, but still with a diminution
of assurance in proportion to the force of its antagonist.
This contrariety of evidence, in the present case, may be derived
from several different causes ; from the opposition of contrary testi-
mony, from the character or number of the witnesses^ i^om the man-
ner of their delivering their testimony, or from the union of all these
circumstances. We entertain a suspicion concerning any matter of
fact when the witnesses contradict each other, when they are but few
or of a doubtful character, when they have an interest in what they
affirm, when they deliver their testimony with hesitation, or, on the
contrary, with too violent asseverations. There are many other par-
ticulars of the same kmd which may diminish or destroy the force of
any argument derived from human testimony.
Suppose, for instance, that the fact, which the testimony endeavors
to estefblish, partakes of the extraordinary and the marvellous ; in that
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240 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
case, the evidence, resulting from the teetimony, admits of a diminu-
tion, greater or less, in proportion as the fact is more or less imusaaL
The reason why we place any credit in witnesses and historians, \m
not derived from any cormtxUm^ which we perceive apriorif betweffii
testimony and reality, but because we are accustomed to find a con-
formity between them. But when the fact attested is such a one as
has seldom fallen under our observation, here is a contest of two op-
posite experiences ; of which the one destroys the other, as far as its
force goes, and the superior can only operate on the mind by the force
which remains. The very same principle of experience which gives
us a certain degree of assurance in the testimony of witnesses, gives
us also, in this case, another degree of assurance against the fact
which they endeavor to establish, from which contradiction there
necessarily arises a counterpoise and mutual destruction of belief and
authority.
Ishotdd not believe mch a story were it told me by Gato, was a
proverbial saying in Rome, even during the life time of ^t philo-
sophical patriot The incredibility of a hdt it was allowed, might
invalidate so great an authority.
The Indian prince who refused to believe the first relations oon-
eemlng the effects of frost, reasoned justly ; and it naturally required
very strong testimony to engage his assent to facts, that arose from m
state of nature, with which he was unacquainted, and which bore so
litde analogy to those events of which he had constant and uniform
experience. Though they were not contrary to his experience, they
were not conformable to it.
But in order to increase the probability against the testimony q(
witnesses, let us suppose that the fact which they affirm, instead of
being only marvellous, is really miraculous ; and suppose, also, that
the testimony, considered apart and in itself, amounts to an entire
proof; in that case there is proof against proof* of which the strongest
must prevail, but still with a diminution of its force in proportion to
that of its antagonist
A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature ; and as a firm and
unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a
miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument
firom experiencjB can possibly be imagined. Why is it more than
probable that all men must die, that lead caimot, of itself, remain sus-
pended in the air, that fire consumes wood and is extinguished by
water; unless it be, that these events are found agreeable to the laws
of nature, and there is required a violation of these laws, or in other
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCMFTURES. 241
words, a miracle to prevent them ? Nothing is esteemed a miracle if
it ever happen in the common course of nature. It is no miracle diat a
man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden ; because such
a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been fre«
quently observed to happen. But it is a miracle that a dead man
should come to life, because that has never been observed in any age
or country. There must, therefore, be a uniform experience against
every miraculous event, otherwise the event would not merit that ap-
pellation. And, as a uniform experience amounts to a proof, there is
here a direct and full proofs from the nature of the fact, against the
existence of any miracle ; nor can such a proof be destroyed, or the
miracle rendered credible, but by an opposite proof which is superior.
The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our
attention,) « That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless
the testimony be of such a kind that its falsehood would be more mi-
raculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish : and even in
that case there is a mutual destruction of arguments, and the superior
only gives us an assurance suitable to that degree of force which re-
mains, after deducting the inferior.' When any one tell^ me that he
saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself
whether it be more probable that this person should either deceive or
be deceived, or that the fact which he relates should really have hap-
pened. I weigh the one miracle against the other, and according to
the superiority, which I discover, I pronounce my decision, and al-
ways reject the greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony
would be more miraculous than the event which he relates, then, and
not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion." *
Mr. Hume's argument in substance is this, " Experience, which in
some things is variable, in others is uniform, is our only guide in
reasoning concerning matters of fact. Variable experience gives rise
to probability only; an uniform experience amounts to truth. Our
belief of any fact, from the testimony of eye-witnesses, is derived
from no other principle than our experience of the varacity of human
testunony. If the fact attested be miraculous, there arises a contest
of two opposite experiences, or proof against proof. Now, a mira-
cle is a violation of the laws of nature ; and as a firm and unalterable
experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle,
from the very nature of the fact, is as complete as any argument from
experience can possibly be imagined; and if so, it is an undeniable
• Hnine'i Easaya, voLil pp. 115— 12S.
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consequence, that it cannot be surmounted by any proof whatever d^
rived iW>m human testimony.*'
Now, to this reasoning, or the most prominent and essential parts
of it, several successive answers have been or may be given. Lord
Brougham, in his Natural Theology, gives the following argument^
which is a triumphant refutation of Mr. Hume's doctrine, that a mir-
acle cannot be proved by any testimony.
I. The argument of Tillotson against the doctrine of the Beai
Presence is stated to have suggested &at against the truth, or rather
tiie possibility of miracles ; but there is this most material difference
between the two questions — ^that they who assert the Real Presence
drive us to admit a proposition contrary to the evidence of our sen-
ses, upon a subject respecting which the senses alone can decide, and
10 admit it by the force of reasonings ultimately drawn from the sen-
ses—reasonings far more likely to deceive than they, because applica-
ble to a matter not so well fitted for argument as for perception, bat
reasonings at any rate incapable of exceeding the evidence the senses
give. Nothing, therefore, can be more conclusive than Tillotson's, ar-
gument— that against the Real Presence we have of necessity eveiy
argument, and of the self-same kmd with those which it purports to
rest upon, and a good deal more besides ; for if we must not believe
our senses when they tell us that a piece of bread is merely bread,
what right have we to believe ^ose same senses, when they convey
to us the words in which the arguments of the Fathers are couched,
or the quotations from Scripture itself, to make us suppose &e bread
is not bread, but flesh ! And as ultimately even iiie testimony of a wi^>
ness who should tell us that he had heard an aposde or the Deity
himself affirm the Real Presence, must resolve itself into the evi-
dence of that witness's senses, what possible ground can we have for
believing that he heard the divine affirmation, stronger than the evi-
dence which our own senses plainly give us to the contrary !
This is very far firom being the case with the argument on mira-
cles. There, the evidence for and the evidence against do not coin-
cide in kind, but take opposite directions. There, we have not to
disbelieve indications of the same nature with those upon which our
belief is challenged. The testimony of witnesses is adduced to prove
a mbracle, or deviation from the ordinary laws of nature ; but, say*
Mr. Hume, it is more likely that the witnesses should be deceived or
should deceive, than tfuit the laws of nature should be broken; and at
all events we believe testimony only because it is a law of nature that
men should tell the trudu This may very possibly be true ; doubt-
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTUBES. 248
leis it is, generally speaking, so likely to be true, that the belief of a
roinicle is, and ought to be, mo#t difficult to bring about ; but at least,
it is not like the belief in the Real Presence : it does not at one
and the same time assume the accuracy of the indications given by
our senses, and set that accuracy at naught; it does not at once desire
us implicitly to trust, and entirely to disregard the evidence of testi-
mony, as the doctrine of transubstandation calls upon us at once to
trust and disregard the evidence of our senses.
There are two answers, however, to which the doctrine proposed
by Mr. Hume is exposed, and either appears sufficient to shake it
lirMt — Our belief in the uniformity of the laws of nature rests not
altogether upon our own experience. We believe no man ever was
raised from the dead — not merely because we ourselves never saw it,
for indeed that would be a very limited ground of deduction ; and our
belief was fixed on the subject 'long before we had any considerable
experience — fixed chiefly by authority — that is, by deference to other
men's experience. We found our confident belief in this negative
position partly, perhaps chiefly, upon the testimony of others ; and at
all events, our belief that in times before our own the same position
held good, must of necessity be drawn from our trusting the relations
of other men— that is, it depends upon the evidence of testimony.
If, then, the existence of the law of nature is proved, in great part at
least, by such evidence, can we* wholly reject the like evidence when
it comes to prove an exception to the rule — a deviation from the law f
The more numerous are the cases of the. law being kept— -the more
rare those of its being broken— the more scrupulous certainly ought
we to be in admitting the proofe of the breach. But that testimony
is capable of making good the proof there seems no doubt. In truth,
the degree of excellence and strength to which testimony may rise
seems almost indefinite. There is hardly any cogency which it is
not capable by possible supposition of attaining. The endless multi-
plication of witnesses — the unbounded variety of their habits oftliink-
ing, their prejudices, their interests— afford the means of conceiving
the force of their testimony augmented ad infinitum, because these
circumstances afford the means of diminishing indefinitely the chan-
ces of their being all mistaken, all misled, or all combining to deceive
us. Let any man try to calculate the chances of a thousand persons
who come from dififerent quarters, and never saw each other before,
and who all vary in their habits, stations, opinions, interests — ^being
mistaken or combining to deceive us, when they give the same ac-
count of an event as having happened before their eyes — these
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244 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
chances are many hundreds of thousaiids to one. And yet we can
conceive them multiplied indefinitely i for one hundred thousand sudi
witnesses may all in like manner bear the same testimony ; and they
may all tell us their story within twenty-four hours after the transac-
tion, and in the next parish. And yet, according to Mr. Hume's ar-
gument, we are bound to disbelieve them all, because they speak to a
thing contrary to our own experience, and to the accounts which oth-
er witnesses had formeriy given us of the laws of nature, and which
our forefathers had handed down to us as derived from witnesses who
lived in the old time before them. It is unnecessary to add that no
testimony of the witnesses whom we are supposing to concur in their
relation contradicts any testimony of our own senses. If it did, the
argument would resemble Archbishop Tillotson's upon the Real Pres-
ence, and our disbelief would be at once warranted.*
Secondly — ^This leads us to the next objection to which Mr. Hume's
argument is liable, and which we have in part anticipated while illus-
trating the first. He requires us to withhold our belief in circum-
staaees which would force every man of common understanding to
lend his assent, and to act upon the supposition of the story told be-
ing true. For suppose either such numbers of various witnesses an
we have spoken of; or, what is perhaps stronger, suppose a miracle
reported to us, first by a number of relators, and then by three or four
of the very soundest judges and most incorruptily honest men we
know — ^men noted for their difficult belief of wonders, and above all,
steady unbelievers in miracles, without any bias in favor of religion,
but rather accustomed to doubt, if not disbelieve — most people would
lend an easy belief to any miracle thus vouched. But let us add this
circumstance, that a firiend on his death-bed had been attended by us,
and that we had told him a fact known only to ourselves— something
* ** Prophecy b claned by Mr. Hume under the same head ^th miracle— ^^eiy
prophecy heing, he says, a miracle. This is not, however, quite correct A proph-
ecy— ^that is the happening of an event which was foretold — may be proved even
hy the evidence of the senses of the whole world. Suppose it had one thousand
years ago been foretold, that, on a certain day this year, one person of every &mily
in the world should be seized with a particular distemper, it is evident that every
family wvM be at once certain that the event had happened, and that it had been
finretold. To future generations the fulfillment would no doubt come within ttie de-
•cripdon of a miracle in all respects. The truth is, that the event happening which
was foretold may be compared to the miracle; and Mr. Hume*s argument will then
be, not that there is any thing miraculous in the event itself, but only in its happen-
ing after it had been foretold. Bishop Sherlock wrote discourses on this subject,
which Dr. Middleton answered: the n>rmer denying that prophecy was more ex-
empt from the scope of the sceptical argument than mirades. On the whole, how-
ever, it does seem more exempt**
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 246
^t we had secretly done the very moment before we told it to the
dying man, and which to no other being we had ever revealed — and
that ihe credible witnesses we are supposing inform us that the deceas-
ed appeared to them, conversed with them, remained with them a day
or two, accompanying them, and to avouch the fact of his re-appear-
ance on this earth, communicated to them the secret of which we had
made him the sole depository the moment before his death ; accord-
ing to Mr. Hume we are bound rather to believe, not only that those
credible witnesses deceive us, or that those sound and unprejudiced
men were themselves deceived, and fancied things without real ex-
istence; but further, 1hat they all hit by chance upon the discovery
of a real secret, known only to ourselves and the dead man* Mr.
Hume's argument requires us to believe this as the lesser improbabil-
ity of the two — as less unlikely than the rising of one from the dead ;
and yet every one must feel convinced, that were he placed ift the sit-
uation we have been figuring, he would not only lend his belief to the
relation, but, if the Telators accompanied it with a special warning
from the deceased person to avoid a certain contemplated act, he
would, acting upon the belief of their story, take the warning, and
avoid doing the forbidden deed. Mr. Hume's argument makes no
exception. This is its scope ; and whether he chooses to push it
thus far or no, all miracles are of necessity denied by it, without the
least regard to the kind or the quantity of the proof on which they
are rested ; and the testimony which we have supposed, accompanied
by the test or check we have supposed, would fall within the grasp
of the argument just as much and as clearly as any other miracle
avouched by more ordinary combinations of evidence.
The use of Mr. Hume's argument is this, and it is an important
and a valuable one. It teaches us to sift closely and rigorously the
evidence for miraculous events. It bids us remember that the proba-
bilities are always, and must always be, incomparably greater against
than for the truth of these relations, because it is always far more
likely that the testimony should be mistaken or false, than that the
general laws of nature should be suspended. Further than this the
doctrine cannot in soundness of reason be carried. It does not go
the length of proving that those general laws cannot, by the force of
human testimony, be shown to have been, in a particular instance,
and with a particular purpose, suspended." ^ [See Appendix. ]]
I Mr. Keith, in his very valuable work on the Truth of the Christian
• Loid Broofl^iam*! DtBOoarse on Natonl Theology, pp. 157~16S.
2w2 3
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24^ DIVINE AUTHOEITY Aid)
Beligion, instead of entering upon a metaphysical and elaborate i
to Mr. Home's aigament, or attempting to show that it is founded on
a false hypothesis, in regard to the nature of proof from testimony,
or combating in any manner the plausible hypothesis that testimony
cannot prove a miracle, because the laws of nature are inviolable, ro-
duce» the philosophical scoffer to silence by a direct dental of the as-
sumed fact on which alone the whole argument rests.
He says : **A11 things have not continued as they were since ihe be-
ginning of the creation; the order of nature as it now subsists, has
not been always inviolable^ And changes have been introduced, great
as any miracle can be. It needs a better knowledge of the works of
nature than unbelievers have avowed or reasoned from, to prove the
fallacy of the boldest of their theories, to, bring back proud scienee to
do its appointed task in the service of the sanctuary ;'and to show that
its noblest office is that of being a faithful handmaid of religion.
Some enemies of the Grospel have furnished a profusion of £m^
which demonstrate, to a tittle, the literal truth ef what the prophets
foretold ; others have now said that which it is declared in Scrip-
ture they would finally say ; and when the time is now also come
that science can give Bts commentary on these words of Scripture
which confute the scoffers, we appeal on purpose and at large, in the
first instance to the authority of one, on whom there rests not any
suspicion of ttndue partiality or zeal in the cause of religion. When-
ever the zealous defenders of the fiedth, enlightened by wisdom from
above, shall issue from the Institute — the emancipation, moral, not
political, shall be far greater, and the revolutiim frir more «« glorious/'
than any which France has yet seen.
In answering the scoffers of the last days, who, idolizing reason
and traducing Scripture, reject all faith in any thing supernatural, be-
cause being deeply read in the laws of nature, they hold them invio-
lable, and account their contiouance in all ages sure ; and who found
their specious incredulity on the principle that all Aings have contin-
ued as they were since the beginning of the creation, the Scriptures
of truth, which they despise, convict them of folly, and thus set thdr
willful ignorance before the world.
«< For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God
the heavens are of old, and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water.**^ — (2 Peter iii. 15.)
The lowest and most level parts of the earth exhibit nothing, even
when penetrated to a very great depth, but horizontal strata or layeiit
composed of substances more or less varied, and containing almost all
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRBPTURBS. 240
of them innumerable marine productions. Similar strata, with the
same kind of productions, compose the lesser hills to a considerable
height. Sometimes the shells are so numerous as to constitute of
themselres the entire mass of the rock ; they rise to elevations supe-
rior to every part of the ocean, and are found in places where no sea
could have carried them at the present day, under any circumstances ;
they are not only enveloped in loose sand, but are often enclosed in
the hardest rocks. Every part of the earth, every hemisphere, every
continent, every island of any extent exhibits the same phenomenon.*'
«< It is the sea which has left them in the places where they are now
found. But this sea has remained for a certain period in those
places ; it has covered them long enough, and with sufficient tranquil-
lity to form those deposits, so regular, so thick, so extensive, and
partly also so solid, which contain those remains of aquatic animals*
The basin of the sea, has therefore undergone one change at least,
either in extent or in situation ; such is the result of the very first
search^ and of the most tuperficial examirudum.*^
<< The traces of revolutions become still more apparent and decisive
when we ascend a little higher, and approach nearer to the foot of the
great chains. There are still found many beds of shells ; some of
these are even thicker and more solid ; the shells are quite as nume-
rous and as well preserved, but they are no longer of the same spe-
cies. The strata which contain them are not so generally horizontal ;
they assume an oblique position, and are sometimes almost vertical.
While in the plains and low hills it was necessary to dig deep in or-
der to discover the succession of the beds, we here discovered it at
once by their exposed edges, as we follow the valleys that have
been produced by their disjunction."
** These inclined strata, which form the ridges of the secondary
mountains, do not rest upon the horizontal strata of the hills which
are situate at their base, and which form the first steps in approach-
ing them : but, on the contrary, dip under them, while the hills in
question rest upon their declivities. When we dig through the hori-
zontal strata in the vicinity of mountains whose strata are inclined,
we find these inclined strata reappearing bjBlow ; and even sometimes,
when the inclined strata are not too elevated, their summit is crowned
by horizontal ones. The inclined strata are therefore older than the
horizontal strata ; and as they must necessarily, at least the greatest
number of them, have been formed in a horizontal position, it is evi-
dent that they have been raised, and that this change in their direction
has been effected before the others were superimposed upon them.'*
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** Hhm duo 8ea» previous to the diepositioii of the horixoalal etnta^
had ibrmed others, which» by the operation of proUematical cauaesy
ware broken, raised, and overturned in a thousand ways ; and as se-
▼«eb1 of these inclined strata which it had formed at more remote pe-
riods, rise higher than the horizontal strata which have suoceeded
them and which surround them, the causes by which the inclination
of these beds was effected had also made them project above the lev*
elrf the eeOf and formed islands of them, or at least shoals and ine-
qualities ; and this must have happened, whether they had been rtdi*.
ed by one extremity, or whether the depression of the opposite ex-
tremity had made the waters subside^ Thus is the second result not
kss dear nor less satisfactorily demonstrated than the first, to every
one who will take the trouble of examining the monvments on which
it is established."— (Guvier's Theory of the Earth, 5th ed., pp. 7, 8,
9,10.)
'« All admit that the porphyry and trap rocks have heem pushed up
from below ; but probably at a time when the whole was either cot-
ered by the ocean, or subjected to an enormous pressure by means
of incumbent rocks, which have since been removed*"— -(Edin. Re-
view, No. oiii. p. 72, Oct. 1830.)
*« A glance at the best geological maps now constructed of the va.
iknis oonntries in the Northern hemisphere, whether in North Ame-
rica or Europe, will satisfy the enquirer that the greater part of die
present land has been rtdaedfrem the deq>."*— (Lyell's Geology,
vol. L, p. 184 185.)
«« The primitive fluidity of the planets is clearly indicated by the
compression of their figure, conformably to the laws of the mutual
attraction of their molecules ; it is moreover demonstrated by the re*
gular diminution of gravity, as we proceed from the equator to the
poles. The state of primitive fluidity to which we are conducted by
astronomical phenomena is also apparent firom those which natural
history points out"— (La Placets System of the Worid, Harte's
translation, vol. ii., p. 865.)
** All observers admit that the strata were formed beneath the UHh
ter$9 and have been subsequently converted into dry faruf."— (Buck-
land's Bridgewater Treatise, p. 44.)
«« All geologists will agree with Dr. Buckland, that the most perfect
unity of plan can be traced in the fossil worid, the modifications
which it has undergone, and that we can carry back our researches
distinctly to times antecedent to the existence of man. We can prove
that man had a beginning, and that all the species now contemporary
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. »1
' with man, and many others which preceded, had also a beginning ;
consequently the present state of the organic world has not gone on
from all eternity, as some philosophers have maintained.*'— (Address
of the President of the Geological Society (Lyell) at the anniver-
sary, 1887. See Philosophical Mag. for May, 1837, p. 889.)
The precise accordance and identity of the words of the apostle
with these results of recent scientific investigation, must be obvious
to every reader ; and it can scarcely be less obvious that that man
must have spoken by the inspiration of God, who, looking fbrward
from a remote age to the present time, and back to the beginning of
<he creation, told at once what scoffers in the last days would say, as
clearly as if he had heard them; and described the embryo world as
correctly as if he had been an eye-witness of its rising out of the
waters.
The order of nature was not the same as it is now when the earth
was void, and when not a living thing could possibly havo existed in
the globe we now inhabit, and when at a subsequent period none was
to be found except among shelly strata then vivifying benes^th the wa-
ters, now raised in mountains and indurated into rock. They who
stagger at the belief of anything supernatural, forget that there was a
time, of which the structure of the earth gives evidence, when the
present order of nature, as affecting all animal and vegetable being,
did not exist, and when man, who unscrupulously sets God's word
aside *< in calculating the probability of the continuance of the laws
of nature,*' was not himself created ; nor any worm to be fottnd on
earth to raise its head against its Maker.
In referring to the original formation of the earth as well as to its
final destruction, the aposde, while exposing the willful ignorance of
scoffers, warns Christians not to be ignorant of this one thing, that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day. And the fact of the comparatively recent origin of man,
by geological demonstration as well as by Scriptural record, the last
of created beings on earth, is of itself conclusive against the sceptic
that all things have not continued as they were since the beginning
of the creation. Nature herself, from the vaunted absolute uniformity
of whose laws the power of their Author has been impugned, loudly
testifies of the interposition of Almighty and creative power, not on-
ly after the earth was divided from the waters, but even after tiie
present order of animal existence, man excepted, had been estab-
lished.
" We need not,*' sajrs Mr. Lyell, «* dwell on ihe low antiquity of
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252 BIVINB AUTHOHTTY AND
our species, for it is not controverted by any geoUgUt; indeed, the
real difficulty which we experience consists in tracing back the signs
of man's existence on the earth to that comparatively modem period
when species, now his contemporaries, began to predominate. If
there be a difference of opinion respecting the occorrence in certain
deposits of the remains of man and his works, it is always in refer-
ence to strata of the most modem order,*' ^.— (Lyell's Geology,
yd. i. pp. 153, 154.)
The conclusion to be plainly and legitimately adduced from this
fact alone, as fatal to the hypothesis of Hume, and as directly applied
to subvert it, is, still more happily, not left to the theologian. For»
ready to our hand and coming timelf to our aid, the following extract,
too precious to be curtailed, supplies an illustration of its condusive-
neis in this respect, from the same source from which the bane flow*
ed, before it was, as now it is, followed by the antidote. And may
not the Christian hence augur well and hope much, not only for the
final triumph of the Qospel, of which he can never doubt, but for the
admission, by such an opening of a more glorious light than has here-
tofore entered into the mind of many a dark idolater of mere human
science ? It must, at least, be pleasing to see how, on the abjuration
of willful ignorance, the progress of knowledge, when rightfoUy fol-
lowed ^ut, prepares the way for the wisdom, that is from above ; or
hi^w, in Aose pages wherein the very predicted saying of the scoffers
in the last days was once advocated, the very argument also, implied
in thatwords of the apostle, has now been as unconsciously uiged to
expose the utter fallacy of the delusion.
" The science of geology is very properly referred to, for the sttik-
faig example which it offers of the successful application of the hy-
potiiesis of uniform causation properly understood. Present pheno-
mena and their causes have been most skillfully combined and used, so
as t» foraish us with the story of a period which has itself transmit-
ted f<nr our information nothing but mere strata and deposits. But the
late discoveries in geology tead irresistibly to another observation. It
is one of still greater importance ; for it seems to us to be fatal to
THB THEORY [Humc's] which we have presumed to call a mue&ncef'
turn of the uniformity of causaiunh as signifying an unalterabls
sequence of causes and ^ects. Those who have read neither Ca-
vier nor Lyell are yet aware that the human race did not exist fron
all eternity. Certain strata have been identified with the period of
man^s first appearance. We cannot do better than quote from lyr.
Pritchard's excellent book (Researches into the Physical History of
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INSPIRATION OF THB SCRIPTURES. 253
Mankind) his comment and application of this fact : « It is well known
that all the strata of which our continents are composed were once a
part of the ocean's bed. There is no land in existence that was not
formed beneath the surface of the sea, or that lias not rieinfrom be^
neath the water. Mankind had a beginning ; since we can look baek
to the period when the surface on which they live began to exist.
We have only to go back in imagination to that age, to represent to
ourselves that at a certain time there existed nothing in this globe but
unformed elements ; and that in ihe ne^t period there had begun to
breathe aoid move, in a particular spot, a human creature $ and we
shall already have admitted, perhaps, the most astonishing miracle re-
corded in the whole coqipass of the sacred writings. Afler contem-
plating this phenomenon, we shall find no difficulty in allowing that
events which would now be so extraordinary tb^t they might be termed
almost incredible— our confidence in the continuance of the present
order of things having been established by the uniform experience of
so many ages— Would at one time have given no just cause for won-
der or soepticism. In the first ages of the world, events were con-
ducted b^ operative causes of a different kind frpm those which are
now in action ; and there is nothing contrary to common sense or to
probability in the supposition, that this sort of ftgency continued to
operate from time to tiifte, as long as it Was required ; tiial is, until
'the physical and moral constitution of things now existing was com-
pleted, and the derign of Providence attained." — (Vol. ii. p. 5t4.)
** No greater changes,** conlhiues the
ed in the ordinary sequence of cause
the laws of nature, as they had been [
place on the day when man was, for
creatures of the eartii.** — (Edinbur^
3«7.)
A plain fact may sometimes put do'
nt which, in the
world endures,
:e the girdle tiiat
intended use, tc
r, when close c
and the attempt
is nothing but 1
The wonder-working delusion, conjui
cal necromancer of modem times, by which he was to cheat the
world out of a}l belief in Revelation, may be detectedand exposed by
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254 BIvmB AUTHORITY AND •
any child who cm read a verse of the New Testament; jnat as the
infantine charm and dread, which have their unknown source in the
magic li^item, are gone, so soon as the scene is opened or the light
of day is let in.
'* A miracle,** says Hume, <* is a violation of the laws of nature ;
and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws,
the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as en-
tire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined."—
(Hume's Essay.) ,
But as all dimgs have not continued as they were at the beginmog
of the creation); as the laws of nature are not unalterable, but have
been altered ; as, a change, since their origin, has been introduced,
great as any change can be well imagined, it is as clear as any proof
can possibly be, that aiiy argument which rests entirely on their pre-
sumed absolute inviolability is founded, not on a "feet, but on a false-
hood, and is therefore necessarily devoid of all. truth as well as of all
reason. The like cause can never more indubitably Jproduce the like
effect, than the recent origin of man, of which the geological date is
engraven on. the earth, gives demonstration of the interposition of
Almighty and creative power, and of the operation of the first great
Cause ; to which surely it must be admitted that all things are subser-
vient aq^ subordinate. The palpable proof of the exercise of ii)iB
power, ai^r the presei;it terrestrial order began, shows that experience
iff on the side of miracles, and that the same. Almighty Being who
Qodained the laws of nature, and aAetwards introduced a mighty
change, may possibly, for wise purposes, better known to himself
than to man, suspend them agam. It cannot therefore be, from the
very nature of the fact, that tiiere is a direct and full proof agamst
the existence of any miracle ; for, instead of there being any sound-
ness in so absolute a rule, as scoffers on a false assumption have laid
down, the denial of a miracle, «* perhaps even of the most astonish-
ing miracle recorded in the whole compass of the sacred Scriptares»"
would be the denial of an admitted fact.
Even without the knowledge of this fact, or willfully ignorant of
it, what was the scornful rejection of all evidence of miracles on such
a principle but the phrensied attempt to measure the power of God«
who had creaited the heavens and the earth, and whose goings forth
have been of old from everlasting, by the experience of man, who
stands on a speck in space, and whose viikion can embrace but a mere
point in eternity! But what can scoffers any longer say, when,
looking singly to their favorite hypothesis, the earth on which they
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INSPIRATION ^P THB SCRIPTURES. 25CI
tread does tell them that, were it true, or had the laws of nature, as
they existed after the beginning of the creation, been established to
this day by *' uniform and unalterable experience,'* the world would
hare been but a waste of waters, or at best but a tenement for beasts T
And seeing that the great Creator crowned his works on earth by the
creation of man, and placed him in a world prepared for his recep-
tion, why might he not, for the salvation of man, give proof lof his
Divine interposition in an aAer age by some changes in that order
of nature which for man's sake he had established ? Seeing that the
most astonishing miracle recorded in Scripture (a mystery till of late
not otherwise unfolded) is a certain fact, it is not because of any in-
fringement of the laws of nature, that all the rest may not be proved
to be true. Seeing that the order of nature was altered by the crea-
tion of a new thing upon the earth, what could hinder the same ef-
fecting power from altering at any time the things that are made, or
from giving unto man, as a rational being, some proo^ of the interpo-
sition of hie hand? Surely making the deaf to hear, the lame to
walk, the blind to see, feeding of thousands with a .few loaves and
fishes, staying a tempest with a word, raising the dead to life, and
calling the buried from the tomb, and all scriptural miracles combin-
ed, are no more to be disbelieved from the very nature of the fectSf
than that, in the midst of a fair and faultless creation, the humaa form
was at first fashioned from the dust, and sight given to the' eye, hear-
ing to the ear, strength 'to the limbs, life to the whole frame, and a
spirit put in man by the inspiration of the Almighty. The raising
of a man from the dead is not more contrary to the order of nature,
as subsisting now, than the creation of man was contrary to the order
of Bature which subsisted then, when a human being never had beeti
seen. Recalling life to the body it had left is not more marvellous
than giving life to that which before had none. And as so great a
miracle was the origin of our race, it become
it a right exercise of his reasop, ^o say unto
thou ? nor does it become the thing formed t
it, there are laws which thou eanst not alter.
The resuscitation of an organized frame
the original formation of the first animated b<
ter is an admitted fact, though an infringemei
established, the other may be efiected by the same cause, whatever
the general law of nature may be ; since the one is indisputable, the
other is not impossible. It shows not, therefore, perfect sanity of
mind, nor is it a principle that will ever be established by reason,
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UO DtVINE ADTHOBITY AND
diat a miracle is incredible from the very natare of the fact ; nor is it
in reason, but in order to escape from its verdict, that men woold ever
be debarred from enquiring whether there be not full proof of the
events recort|ed in Scripture, as the earth itself bears witness to one
of the most astonishing of the miracles which it records."*
The fallacy of Mr. Hume's argument being exposed, the only ques-
tion bow is, have we sufficient evidence that miracles were performed
by the authors of the dispensations contained in the Old and New
Testament Sctiptures? To this it is replied, that the miracles re-
corded in the Scriptures, and especially those of Moses, of Jesus
Christ, and 'of his apostles, are accompanied by such evidences as it
will be found difficult to adduce in support of any other historic facts,
and such as cannot be brought to substantiate any pretended hd what-
ever.
The truth of matters of fact may be positively inferred and known^
if they.be attended by certam criteria, such as no pretended fact can
possibly have. These criteria are at least four. It is required, first,
that the facts be tensible faciff,^uch as man's outward senses can
judge ot; secondly, that th^y be notoriousy performed publicly in the
presence of witnesses ; thirdly, that there be memorials of, or monu-
ments, actions, and customs, kept up in commemoration of them ;
fourdily, that such monuments and actions, commence wiih. the facts.
There may be facts in favor of which these four marks cannot be pro-
duced; but whatever fact has all these marks cannot be false, as is
shown in Mr. Leslie's argument, which it is deemed necessary here
to present to the reader, as Mr. Olmsted attempts to prove it altogether
fallacious as applied to the miracles recorded in the Scriptures.
Afler giving the rules just specified, Mr. Leslie proceeds : ** The
two first rules make it impossible for any such matter of fact to
to imposed upon men, at the time when such matter of fact was
said to be done, because every man's eyes and senses would contra-
dict it. For example : suppose any man should pretend, that yester-
day he divided the Thames, in presence of all the people of L6n-
don, and carried the whole -city, men, women and children, over to
South wark on dry land, the water standmg like walls on both sides:
I say it is morally impossible (hat he could persuade the people of
London, that this was true, when every man, woman, and child,
could contradict him, and say, this was a notorious falsehood, for
that they had not seen the Thames so divided, nor had gone over on
• Keith's « Truth of the Chrirtian ReUgion," pp. 61—71.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTUREa 257
dry land. Therefore I take it for granted, (and I suppose, with the
allowance of all the Deists in the world) that no such imposition coald
be put upon men, at the time when such public^ matter of fact was said
to be done.
Therefore it only remains, that such matter of fact might be invent-
ed some time aAer, when the men of that generation, wherein the
thing was said to be done, are all past and gone ; and the credulity of
aAer ages might be imposed upon, to believe that things were done in
former ages,, which were mot.
And for this the two last rules secure us as much as the two first
rules, in the former case ; for whenever such a matter of fact came
to be invented, if not only monuments were said to remain of it, but
likewise that publi<^ actions and observances were constantly used
ever since the matter of fact wad said to be done ; the deceit must
be detected by no such monuments appearing, and by the experience
of every man, woman, and child, who must know thsct no such actions
or observances were ever used by them. For example : suppose I
should now invent a story of such a thing, done a thousand years ago,
I might perhaps get some to believe ft ; but if I say, that not only such
a thing was done, but that from that day to this, every man, at the
age of twelve years, had a joiht of his little finger cut off; and that
every man in the nation did want a joint of such a finger; and that
this institution was said to be a part of the matter of fact done so many
years ago, and vouched as a proof and confirmation of it, and as hav-
ing descended without interruption, and been constantly practised, in
memory of such matter of fact all along, from the time that such mat-
ter of fact was done : I say, it is impossible I should be believed in
such a case, because every one could Qontradict me, as to die mark
of cutting off a joint of the finger; and that being. a part of my ori-
ginal matter of fact, must demonstrate the whole to be false.
Let us now epme to the second point, to show, that the matters
of fact of Moses, and of Ghrist,;have all these rules or marks before
mentioned ; and that neither the matters of fact of Mohammed, or
what is reported of the heathen deities, have the likfe ; and that no
imposture can have them all.
As to Moses, I suppose it will be allowed me, that* he could not
have persuaded six hundred thousand men, that he had brought then!
out of Egypt, through the Red sea ; fed them forty years without
bread, by miraculpus manna, and the other matters of fact recorded in
his books, if they had not been true. Because every man's senses
that were then alive, must have contradicted it And therefore he
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2t8 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
must have imposed on all their senses, if he could hare made them
believe it, when it was false, and no such things done. So that here
are the first and second of the above mentioned four marks.
For the same reason it was equally impossible for him to have
made them receive his five books as truth, and not to have rejected
them» as a manifest imposture ; which told of all these things so done
before their eyes, if they had not been so done. See how positively
he speaks to them, Deut zi. 2 — 8., ** And know you this day, for I
speak not with your children which have not known, and which have
not seen the chastisement of the Lord your CUxl, his greatness, his
mighty hand, and lus stretched-out arm, and his miracles, and his acts,
which he did in the midst of Egypt, unto Pharaoh the kin^ of Egypt
and unto all his land, and what he did unto .the army of Egypt,
unto their horses, and to their chariots ; how he made the waters of
the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after yon ; and how the
Lord hath destroyed them unto this day ; and. what he did unto you in
the wildemesa until ye came into this place ; and what he did unto
Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the
earth opened her mouth, and sWa]}owed them up, and their house-
holds, and their tents, and all the, substance that was in their posses-
sioh, in the midst of all Istael. But your eyes have seen all the
great acts of the Lord, which he did,'* ice.
From hence we must suppose it impossible that these books of
Moses, (if an imposture) could have been invented and put upon die
people, who were then alive when all these' things, were said to be
done.
The utmost, therefore, that even a mppoae can stretch to, is, that
these books weite wrote ii^ some age aAer Moses, and put out in his
name. t ' • *
And to this I say, that if it was so, it was impossible that those
books should have been received, as the books of Moses, in that age
wherein they may have been supposed to have been first invented.
Why ? Because they speak of thetaiseives as delivered by Moees,
-and kept in the a^ from his time. ** And it came to pass, when Mo-
ses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until
tiiey were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bare
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying. Take this book of the
law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
€U>d, that it may be. there for a witness against thee,*' Deut xzzi.
24 — ^26. And there was a copy of this book to be left likewise with
the king. «' And it shall be when he sitletii upon the throne of his
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURESt 260
kiDg(]|pm9 that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, oiU of
that lyhich is beforethe priests the Levites : and it shall be with hiniy
and he shall read therein all the days of his life : that he may learn
to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these
statutes, to do them," Deut xvii. 18, 19.
Here, you see that this book of the kw, speaks of itself, not only
as a history or relation of what things were then done ; but as the
standing and municipal law and statutes of the nation of the Jews,
binding the lung as well i|s the people. ' '
Now, in whatever age after Moses you will suppose this book to
have been forged, it was impossible it could be received as truth ;
because k was not then to be found, -either in the ark, or with the
king. Or any where else : for when first invented, every body must
know that they had never heard of it before.*
And therefore they could less believe it -to be the book of their
statutes, and the standing law of the land, which they had all along
received, and by which they had been governed.
Gould any man, now at this day, invent a book of statutes or acts
of parliament for England, and make it pass upon the nation as the
only book of statutes that thpy had ever known ? As impossible was
it for the books of Moses (if they were invented hi any age after
Moses) to have been received for what they declared themselves to
be, viz. the statutes and municipal law of the na^on of the Jews : and
to have persuaded the Jews, that they had owned and acknowledged
these books, all along from the days of Moses, to that day in which'
they were $rst invented, that is, that they had owned them before .
fhey 'had ever so much as heard of them. Nay, more, the whole
nation must, in an idstant, forget their former laws and government, if
they could receive these 'books as being their former Jaws. And they
could not otherwise receive them, because they vouched themselves
so to be. Let me ask the Deist but this one short question, Was there
ever a book of sham laws, which were not the laws of the nation,
palmed upon any people since ,the world began ? If not, with what
face can they say this of the book of laws of the Jews ? Why will
• they say that of them, which they confess impossible in any nation,
or among any people ?
But they must be yet more unreaaonable. For the books of Moses
have a furdier demonstration of their truth, than even other law books
liave ; for they npt only contain the laws^ but give an historical ac-
count of their institution, and the practice of them from that time : as
of the passover, Numbers viii. 17, 18, in memory of the death of the
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260 WVINB AUTHOWTY AND
first-bom in Egypt : and that the same day, all the first-bora of Israel,
both of man and beast, were by a perpetual law, dedicated, to God:
and the Levites taken for all the first-born of the children of Israel,
That Aaron's rod which budded, was kept in the ark, in memory of
the rebellion and wonderful destruction of Korah, I>athan, and Abi-
ram ; arid for the confirmation of the priesthood to the tribe of Leyi.
As likewise the pot of manna, in memory of their having been fed
with it forty years in the wilderness. That the brazen serpent was
kept (which remained to the days of Heze|^iah, 2 Kings xviii. 4.,) in
memory of that wondeirful deliverance, by only looking upon it, from
the biting of the fiery serpents, Numbers xxi, 0, The feast of pen-
tecost, in memory of the dreadful appearance of God upon Mount
Horeb, &c.
And, besides these remembrances of particular actions and occur-
irences, diere were other solemn institations in memory of their deliv-
erance out of Egypt in the general, which included all the particulars,
as of the sabbath, Deut. v. 15. Their daily sacrifices, and yearly
expiation, their new moons, and^ several feasts and fasts. So that
there were yearly, monthly, weekly, daily remembrances, and recog-
nitions of these things.
And not only so, but the books of the same Moses tell us, that a
particular tribe [of Levi] was appointed and consecrated by God as
his priests ; by whose hands and none other, the sacrifices of the peo-
ple were to, be ofiered, and these solen\n institutions to be celebrated.
' That it was death' fdr any one to approach the altar. That their high
priest wore a glorious mitre, and magnificent robes of God's own con-
. trivanccu with the miraculous Urim and Thummim in his breast-plate,
whence the divine responses were given. That at his word, the king,
and all the people were to go out, and to come in. Num. xxvii. 21.
That these Levites were likewise the chief judges, even in all civil '
causes, and that it was death to resist their sentence, Deut. xvii.
8 — 13; 1 Chron. xxiii. 4. Now whenever it can be supposed that
th'fese books of Moses were forged, \n some ages aAer Moses, it is
impossible they could have been received as true, unless the forgers
could have made the whole nation believe, that they had received these
books from their fathers, had been instructed in them when they were
children, and had taught them to their children ; moreover, that they
had all been circumcised, and did circumcise their children, in pursu-
ance to what was commanded in these books: that they had oWrred
the yearly passover, the. weekly sabbath, the new moons, and all
these several feasts, fasts and ceremonies, commanded in these books ;
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCWPTUREa 261
diat they had never eaten any swine's fleph, or other mebts prohibited
in these books ; that they had a magnificent tabernacle, with a tisibla
priesthood to administer in it, which was confined to the tribe of
Levi; over whom was placed a glorious high priest, clothed with
great and mighty prerogative, whose death only oould deliver thoee
that were fled to the cities of refuge. And that these priests were their
ordinary judges, even in civil matters, Num. xxxv. 25-— 28. I say,
was it possible to have persuaded a ivhole nation of men, that they had
known and practised all these things, if they had not done it 7 or,
secondly, to have received a book for truth, which said they had praor
tised them^ and appealed to that practice ; so that here are the third
and fourth of the marks above mentioned.
But now let us descend to the utmost degree of supposition, viz.
that^ these things were practised, befote these books of Moses were
forged ; and that these books did only impose upon the nation, in
making them believe, that they had kept these observances in memory
of such and such things, as were inserted in these books.
Well then, let us proceed upon this supposition, (however ground*
less,) and noiv, wijl not the same impossibilities occur, as in the
former ^case ? For first, this must suppose that the Jews kept all
these observ^ces in memory of nothing, or "without knowing any
thing of their original, or the reason why they kept them. Whereas
these very observances did express the ground and reason of theur
being kept, as the passover in memory of God's passing over the
children of the Israelites, in that night ^hereiQ he slew all &9 first-
.bom of Egypt, and so of the rest.
But secondly, let us suppose, cdhtrary both to •reason and matter of
fact, that the Jews did not know any reason at all why they kept*
these observances ; yet was it possible to put it upon them, that they
had kept these observances in memory of what they had never heard
of before that day, whensoever you will suppose that these books of
Moses were first forged? For example, suppose. I should now forge
some romantic story of strange things done a thousand years ago, and
in confirmation of this, should endeavor to persuade the Christian
world, that they had all along, from that day to this, kept the first
day of the week in memory of such a hero, an ApoUonius, a Bar-
cosbas, or a Mohammed : and had all been baptized in his name ; and
swore by his name, and upon that very book, (which I had &en
forged, and which they never saw before,) in their public judicatuifeB ;
that tliis book was their gospel and law. Which they had ever since
that time, these thousand years past, universally received and owned«
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268 DIVJNB AUTHORITT AND
and none other. I would ask any Deist, whether he thinks it possi-
ble, that such a cheat coul4 pass, or such a legend be received as the
Gospel of ChristiaQS ; and that they could be made believe, that they
never had any other gospel ? The same reason is as to. the hocka of
Moses, and must be, as to every matter of fact, which has all the foor
marks before mentioned ; and these marks secure any such matter of
&ct as much from being invented and imposed in any after ages, as
at the time when such matters of fact were said to be done.
Let me give one very familiar example more in this case. There
is the Stonehepge in Salisbury Plain, every body knows it; and yet
none knows the reason why those great stones were set there, or by
whom, or in meiiiory of what.
Now suppose I should write a book to-morrow, and tell there that
these stones were set up by Hercules, Polyphemus, or Garagai^tua,
in memory of such and such of their actions. And for a farther con-
firmation of this, should say, in thiff book, that it was wrote at the
time when such actions were done, and by the very actors them-
selves, or eye-witnesses. And that this book had been received as
truth, and quoted by authors of the greatest reputation in all ages
since. Moreover, that this book was well known in England, and
enjoined by act of parliament to be taught our children, and that we
did teadi it to our children, and had been taught it ourselves when
we were children. I ask any Deist, whether he thinks this could
pass upon England 7 And whether, if I, or any other should insist
upon it, we should not, instead of being believed^ be sent to Bedlam!
* Now let us compare this with the Stonehenge, as I may call it, or.
twelve great stones set up at GUgal; which is told in the fourth chap-
ter of Joshua. It is there said, verse 6.' that the reason why they
were set up, was, that when their children, in after ages, should ask
the meaning of it, it should be told them.
And the thing in memory of whicb they were set up, was such as
could not possibly be imposed upon that nation, at that time, when it
was said to be done : it was as wonderful and miraculous as their pas-
sage through the Red sea.
And withal, free from a very poor objection, which the Deists have
advanced against that miracle of the Red sea : thinking to solve it by
a spring tide, with the concurrence of a strong wind, happening at the
same time^ which left the sand so dry, as that the Israelites, being all
foot, might pass through the oozy places and holes, which it must be
supposed the sea left betiind it: but that the Egyptians, being aU
horse and chariots, stuck in those holes and were entangled, so as ,
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURBa 1^63
that thej could not march so fast as the Israelites: and that this was
all the meaning of its being said, that- God took off their [the Egyp-
tians*] chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily. So that they
would make nothing extraordinary, at least not miraculous, in all this
action.
This is advanced in Le Glero's Dissertations upon Genesis, lately
printed in Holland, and that part with others of the like tendency,
endeavoring, to resolve other miracles, as that of Sodom and Gomor-
rah, &;c. into the .mere natural causes, are put into English by the
well known T. Brown, for the edification of the Deists in England.
But these* gentlemen have forgotten, that the Israelites had great
herds of many thousand cattle with them ; which would be apter to
stray, and fall into those holes^ and oozy places in the sand, than
horses with riders, who might direct them.
But such precarious and silly supposes are not worth the answer-
ing. If there had be^n no more in this passage through the Red sea,
than that of a spring tide, &;c., it had been impossible for Moses to
have made the Israelites believe the relation given of it in Exodus,
with so many particulars, which themselves saw to be true.
And aU those scriptures which magnify this action, and appeal to
it as a full demonstration of the miraculous power of God, must be
reputed as romance or legtBnd. ,
I say this for the sake of some Christians, who think it no preju- •
dice to the truth of the Holy Bible, but rather an advantage, as ren-
dering it more easy to be believed, if they can solve whatever seems
miraculous in it, by the power of second caused; and so to make all,
as they speak, natural and easy^ ^ Wherein if they could prevail, the
natural and easy result would be, not to believe one word in all those
sacred oracles. For, if things be not as they are told in any relation,
that relation must be false. And if false in part, we cannot trust to^
it either in whole or in part.
Here are to be excepted, mistranslations, and errors, either in copy,
or in press. But where there is no room for supposing of these, as
where all copies do agree ; there we must either receive all, or reject
aU. I mean in any book that pretends to be written from the month
of God. For in other common histories, we may believe part and
reject part, as we see cause.
But to return. The passage of the Israelites over Jordan, in memory
of which those stones at GUgal were se^t up, is free from all those litde
carpings before mentioned, that are made as to the passage through the
Aed sea« For notice was given to the Israelites the day before of this
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M4 DIVINE AUTHORmr AND
great miracle to be done, Josh. iii. 6. It was done at noon-day, be*
fore the whole nation. And when the waters of Jordan were divided
it was not at any low ebb, but at the time when that river overflowed
an its banks, verse 15. And it was done, not by winds, or ita length
of time which winds must take to do it, but all on the sudden, as soon
as the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of
the water, then the waters which came down from above stood and
rose up upon a heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Za-
retan : and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even.the
Salt sea, failed and were cut olflf, and the people passed over right against
Jericho. The priests stood in the midst of Jordan till all Ihe annies of
Israel bad passed over. . And it came to pass, when the priests that bare
lke ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of
Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lit up upon the dry land«
that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place and flowed over
all his banks as they did before. And tiie people came up out of Jor^
dan on the tenth day of the ^t month, and encamped in Oilgal, on
the east border of Jericho. And those iwehre stones which they took
out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto tiie
children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers
in time to come, saying, What mean these stbnes? Then shall ye
let your children know, saying, Isi;ael came over tiiis Jordan on &cy
land. For the Lord your GU)d dried up the waters of Jordan from
before you, until ye were pissed over ; as the Lord your Qod did to
the Red sea, which he dried up .fix>m before us, until we were gone
over; fliat all the people 6f the earth might know the hand of flie
Lord, that it is mighty : that ye might fe^ the Lord your Ood for ev-
er; chapter iv. from verse 18.
If the passage of the Red sea had been only taking advantage of a
< spring tide, or the like, how would this teach all the people of the
earth that the hand of th^ Lord was mighty? - How would a thing no
more remarkable have been taken notice of through all the worid t
How would it have taught Israel to fear the Lord, when they must
know that, notwithstandmg all of these big words, there was so little
in it 7 How could they have believed or received a book, as truth,
which they knew told the matter so far otherwise from what it was ?
But, as I said, this passage over Jordan, which is here compared
to tiiat of the Red sea, is free from those cavils that are made as to
that of flie Red sea, and is a farther attestation to it, being said to be
done in the same manner as was that of the Red sea.
Now, to form our argument, let us suppose that theie never wis
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INSPIRATION Of THE SCRIPTURES. Mi
«ny toch Uiing as that passage over Jordan; that these stones at
Gilfal were set up upon some other occasion, in some after nge ; and
tiien tot some designing man invented this book of Joshna, and said
that it was written by Joshua at that time ; ai^d gavis this stonage at
GDgal for a testimony of the truth of it. Would not every body say
to him, We know the stonage at Gilgal, but we never heard before of
llus reason for it ? Nor of this book of Joshua T Where has it been
all this while T And where and how came you, after so many ages,
to find it 7 besides, this book tells us that this passage over Jordan
was ordained to be taught our children from age to age ; and, &ere-
fore, that they were always to be instructed in the meaning of that
stonage at Gilgal as a inemorial of it. But we were never taught it
when we were children, nor did ever teach our children any^ such
thing. And it is not likely tl^at it could have been forgotten while so
remarkable a stonage did continue, which was set up for that and no
other end!
And if, for the reason before given, no such imposition could be put
upon Qs as to the stonage at Salisbury Plain, hoVr much less could it '
be as to the stonage at Gilgal ! ^
And if where We know not the reason of a bare naked monument,
Vttch a sham reason cannot be imposed ; how much more is it impos-
sible to impose upon us, in actions and observances, which we cele-
brate in memory of particular passages ! How impossible to make
us foi^ those passages which we daily commemorate, and perstiade
us that we had always kept such institutions in memory of what we
never heard of before ; that is, that we knew it before we knew' it
And if we find itnhus impossible for an imposition to be put upon
ns, even in some things which have not all the four marks before men-
tioned, how much more impossible is it that any deceit should be in
that thing where all the fonr marks do meet !
. This has been shown in the first place as to the matters* of fact of
Moses. ' '
Therefore I tsome iiow, secondly, to show that as in the matters
of fact of Moses, so likewise all these four marks do meet in the
matters of &ct which*are recorded in^ the (gospel of our blessed Sa-
viour. And my work herein will be the shorter, because all that is
said before of Moses and his books, is every way as' applicable to
Christ and his Gospel. His works and mirades are there said to be
done publicly, in the face of the world, as he argued to his aecnsers,
** I spake openly to the worid, and in secret have I said nothing."
John JLviii. 20. It is tdd. Acts ii/41, that three thousand at •ne
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266 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
time, chap. iv. 4. that above five thousand at another tivie were con-
verted, upon conviction of what themselves had seen, what had been
done publicly before their eyes, wherein it was impossible to have
imposed upon them. Therefore here were the two first of the rules
before mentioned.
Then for the two second : baptism and the Lord*8 supper were in-
sdtuted as perpetual memorials of these things ; and they were not in-
stituted in afler ages, but at the very time when these things were said
to be done, and have been observed without interruption in all a^es
through the whole Christian w,orld, down all the way from that time
to this. And Christ himdelf did 'ordain apostles, and other ministers
of his Gospel, to preach and administer these sacraments, and to gov-
ern his church, anil that '* always, even unto the end of the worid,**
Matt, xxviii. 20. Accordingly they h^ve continued by regular sue--
cession to this day, and no doubt ever shall while the earth shall last.
So that the Christian clergy are as notorious a matter of fact as the
tribe of Levi among the Jews. And the Gospel is as much a law to
the Christians as the book of Moses to the Jews. And it being part
of Uie matter of fact related in the Gospel, ,that such an order of men
were appointed by Christy and to continue to the end of the world ;
consequendy, if the Gospel was a fiction, and invented (as it must be)
in some ages after Christ, then, at that time, when it was first invent-
ed, there could be no such order of clergy as derived themselves from
the institution of Christ, which must give the lie to the Gospel and
demonstrate the whole to be false. And the matters of fact of Christ
being pressed to be true, no otherwise than as there was, at that time,
(whenever the Deists will suppose the Gospel to be forged,) not only
public sacraments of Christ's jbistitution, but an order of clergy, like-
wise of his appointment, to administer them ; and it being impossible
there could be any such things before they were inventisd, it is impos-
sible that tkeyshould be received when invented And therefore, by
.what was said above, itivas as impossible to have imposed upon man-
kind in this matter, by inventing ^f it in after ages, as at the time
when those things were said ta be done. . .
The matters of fact of Mohammed, or what is fabled of the deities,
do all want some of the aforesaid four rules, whereby the certainty of
matters of fact is demonstrated. First, Mohammed pretended to no
miracles, as he tells us in his Alcoran, c. Q. &c., and those which
are commonly told of him pass among the Mohammedans them-
selves but as legendary fables; and, as such, are rejected hy the
wise and learned ^ong them, -as the legends of their saints are in
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 297
the oharch of Rome. See Dr. Prldeaux's Life of Mohammed,
page 34.
But, in the next place, those which are told of him, do all Want the
two first rules before mentioned. For his pretended converse with
the moon, his Mersa or night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and
thence to heaven, &c., were not performed before any body. We
have only his own word for them. And they are as groundless as
the delusions of Fox, or Muggleton, among ourselves. The same is
to be said (in the second place) of the fables of the heathen gods, of
Mercury stealing sheep, Jupiter's turning himself into a bull, and
the like, besides the folly and unworthiness of such senseless pre-
tended miracles. And, moreover, the wise among the heathen did
reckon no otherwise of these but ^ fables, which had a mythological
or mystical meaning in them, of which several of them have given us
the rationale, or explication. And it is plain enough that Ovid meant
no other by all hid Metamorphoses.
It is true, the heathen deities had their priests : they had likewise
feasts, games, and other public institutions in memory of them. But
all these want the fourth mark, viz. That such priesthood and institui
tions should commence from the time that such things as they com-
memorate* were said to be done ; otherwise they cannot secure after
ages from the imposture, by detecting it at the time when first invent
ed, as hath been argued before. But the Bacchanalia, and other hea-
then feasts, were instituted many ages af\er what was reported of
these gods was said to be done, and therefore can be no proof of
them. And the priests of Bacchus, Apollo, &c.f were not ordained by
these supposed gods, but were appointed 'by others, in after aged, only
in honor to them i and, therefore, th^e orders of priests ,are no evidc^nce
of the truth of the matters of fact which are reported of their gods.
III. Now, to apply what has been ^aid, you may challenge all the
Deists in the world to show any action that is fabulous which has all
the four rules or marks before mentioned. No, it is impossible. And
(to resume a litde which is spoken of before) the histories of Exodus
and the Gospel could never have been received if they had not been
true ; because the institution of the priesthood and of Christ, of the
sabbath, the passover, of circumcision, of baptism, and the Lord'«
supper, &c., are there related as descending all . the way down from
those times without interruption. And it is full as impossible to per-
suade men that they had been circumcised, baptized, had circumcised
or baptized their children, celebrated passovers, sabbaths, sacraments*
&c., under the government and administration of a certain order of
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M8 DIVINE AUTHORITT AND
priests, if they had done none of these things, as to make them believe
that they had gone through sea upon dry land, seen the dead nised»
1^. And without believing of these, it was impossible that either
the law or the Gospel could have been received.
And the truth of the matters of fact of Exodus and the Gospel, be-
ing no otherwise pressed upon men than as they have practised soch
public institutions ; it is appealing to the senses of mankind for the
truth of them ; and makes it impossible for any to have invented sudi
stories in afler ages, without apalpable detection of the cheat, when first
invented ; as impossible as to have imposed upon the senses of mian-
kind at the time when such puUic matters of fact were said to be done.
IV. I do not say that every thing which wants these four marks is
ialse, but that nothing can be false which has them alL
I have no manner of doubt that there was such a man as Julius
Cesar ; that he fought at Pharsalia, Was killed in the sauite-house ;
and many other matters of fact of ancient times, though we keep no
public observances in memory of them.
But this shoWs that the matters of fact of Mose^ and Christ, have
come down to us better gui^rded than any other matters of fact, fiaw,
true soever.
And yet our Deists, who would laugh any* man out of the world as
2fk irrational brute, that should offer to deny Cesar or Alexander, Ho-
mer or TirgiU their public works and actions, do, at the same Ume,
value themselves as the only men of wit and sense, of free, generous,
and unbiased judgments, for ridiculing the histpries of Moses and
Christ, that are infinitely better attested, and ipiarded with infallible
marks, which the others want." *
Dr. Gregory, in his letters on the Evidences of the Chradan Reli-
gion, informs us, that so forcible did the argument of Mr: Leslie ap-
pear in the estimation of an English. Deist, (Dr. Cpnyers Middleton,)
that, feeling how necessary it was to his principles that he should find
some way of getting over it, looked out assiduously for twenty years
together to find some pretended fact to which these four criteria could
be applied, but without aucce$$. i
Mr. Olmsted appears to have imagined that he had discovered a
much more easy and expeditious mode of overcoming the^ difiicuhies
presented by Mr. Leslie than did Dr. Middleton. Treating of the de-
parture of the Israelites out of Egypt he says : •« You Christians put
&e strong case of the children of Israel passing the Red sea, and ask,
* Leslie's Short Method with the Debt
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 269
with quite a show of confidence, if any man in New York c6nld per-
suade the people of that city to keep a festival in commemoration of
the waters of the Hudson stopping and parting, so that the people of
that city might pass dry-shod over to Jersey in order to escape some
dreadful calamity, if such a thing had never happened T And thus the
ignorant and lazy are made to heheve that you have a case precisely
analogous to this. But the misfortune with you is, that you have no
such case. There is no feast, and never was, in commemoration of
the pretended passage of the Red sea, or of the delivery of the law at
Sinai. The only pretended miracle \)f which you can pretend to
have a commemorative feast is that of the murdering of the first horn
of Egypt., Besides, there are in this case the principal ingredients
of your great argument wanting, viz: a sensible fact and an un-
interrupted continuance of the institution. I know that ths murder-
ing of children is, in its nature, a sensible fact. What I mean to aver
is, that it was not seen or witnessed by the Jews, even according- to
Moses' own account of it. By reading the reign of Josiah, as found
in Chronicles and Kings, the reader will learn that the celebration
of the passover had been discontimied for centuriejs be&re his day."
Again, he says : *' It is legitimate to conclude, as Moses did es-
tablish a festival to commemorate one alleged fact, of a marvellous
nature, viz. the murder of the first-bom, that he would have instituted
feasts also for the commemoration of others, such as the passage of
the Red sea and the thunders pf Sinai, if they had occurred.
I know that the people are told by (he modems, that there were
feasts to commemorate all the wonders that Moses relates ; but they
are imposed upon. The only authority we can have is Moses fiim-
self, the institutor of these feasts, and he tells us no such thing ; nor
does he any where drop a hint from which a conjecture can be drawn
that he instituted any feast for the passage' of the Red sea, or the .de-
livery of the law."
Here, then, we have Mr. O.'s argument to prove that Mr. Leslie^s
four marks do not meet in the miraculous events recorded by Moses.
Every intelligent reader will at once perceive that it is replete with
misrepresentation and falsehood.
First misrepresentation. "Christians put the strong case of the
Israelites passmg the Red sea, and ask with quite a show of confi-
dence, if any man m New York could persuade the people of that city
to keq) a festival in commemoration of the waters ^bf the Hudson
stopping and parting if such a thing had never happened ?*' No intel-
ligent Christiata puts such a case. Mr. Leslie, whom he is combat-
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t70 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
log, doed not put it But to sbew that Moses could not have per-
suaded the Israelites in opposition to their own senses, that he had
led them through the Red sea, if no such miracle had been performed,
hd supposes that he should pretend that he had dinded the Thames
in the presence of all the people of Londou, ^.
Second misrepresentation* '^ The only pretended miracle of which
ywa can pretend to have a commemorative feast, is that of the murder-
ing of the first-bom of Egypt" The dealings of Jehovah widi the
Egyptians, having been alieady fully irindicated, it is unnecessary
to notice this impious assertion here.* The commemorative feasts
were the Fasdover, which was instituted in commemoration of tlie Is-
raelite coming out of Egypt, and their miraculous deliverance when
the angel of the pestilence slew the first-bom of Egypt^ both man
and beast ; the feast of Pentecost, which was instituted in comme-
moration of the miraculous deliverance of the law from Mount Sinai,
and die feast of Tabernacles, which was instituted in commemoration
of their miraoulous presiBrvation in the wildemess. The passover
having been instituted to commemorate the exode from JSgypt, and
the circumstances attending it, it is 'presumed the Infidel himself can^
not deny that these were sensible fecti.
Third misrepresentation. '* By reading the reign of Josiah, as found
in Chronicles and Kings, the reader will learo that the celebration of
the passover had been discontinued for centuries before his day.'* A
few lines above this audacious /ai#eAoo(f, this Infidel accuses the
teachers of Christianity with, cheating *« the ignorant and the lazy*'
into the belief of a felsehood, and in the next breath he makes the
attempt himself. The history of Josiah is contained in 2 Kings, ch.
zxii, and in 2 Chrofi. chap, xxxiv. If the reader will tum to these
chapters, he will be* able to decide on the veracity of this man. If
one, who never read the- Bible had made such a statement, his asser-
tion might have been attributed to ignorance ; but when it is made by
a person who boasts of being one of the first Biblical scholars of the
pfresent day, the most charitable construction that can be placed upon
his conduct is, that it was dictated by a desire to deceive ; for it can-
not be supposed that one, who has for many years made tfie Scrip-
tures his study, that he might be enabled to collect ol^ections agamst
them, could be ignorant that in 2 Chron. chap, xsxiii. it is recorded
of Manasseh, that shortly previous to his death (which took place
only two years before Josiah mounted ^ throne) " he repaired tiie al-
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INSPIRATION OF THE 8CR|PTURES. 271
tar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace-offerings, and burnt-offer-
ings, and thank-offerings ; and commanded* Judah to serve the Lord
God of Israel." Neither conld he be ignorant that in the xxxth. ch«
of the same book, it is recorded of Hezekiah, the fadier of Manasseh,
that on one occasion he sent to all Israel, and Judah, and wrote let*
ters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house
of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God oS
Israel. And we are further informed that great numbers of the tQa
tribes availed themselves of the invitation, and with Judah at Jerusa- <
lem kept that feast with more solemnity than it had been kept since
the days of Sdlomon. But witk these facts before his eyes, Mr. O,
unblushingly asserts that the passover bad been discontinued centu-
ries before the days of Josiah. ; '
Fourth misrepresentation. " I know that the people are told by the .
modems, that there were feasts to commemorate all the wonders that
Moses relates } but they are imposed upon.'* This it must be con-
ceded is a fitrange assertion, to be made in this land of Bibles^ where
every person can read and judge, for himself, and co^isequently, where
the practice of such an imposition is utterly impossible. Who are
the modems to whom Mr. Olmsted refers T On this subject he sheds
no light whatever, but he appears to have acted upon the supposition
that his bare assertion is a sufficient demonstration of its own truth,
Mr. Leslie, whose conclusive argument he vainly attempts to refute, *
as the reader has seen, makes no such i;epresentation. Under the
conviction that every iinpartia| person must see that this preteilded re-
futation of Mr. Leslie's proofs, that his ibur marks did meet in the
miraculous* events recorded by Moses, is altogether composed of .
misrepresentation apd falsehood, and consequently unworthy of any
further notice, we pass on«
In another part of his work Mr. O. attempts to show that Mr. Les-
lie's marks did not meet in the facts recorded by the evangelists. His
argument oit this subject at first sight is specious, and well calculated
.to deceive those who are not properly informed on the subject he dis-
cusses. It is as follows :
«« None of the Gospel facts have these marks. The people of Ju-
dea did not aU eat the Lord's supper and me^t together the £rst day
of the week, to celebrate even the death of Christ, or a thousandth
part of them, at the time these matters of fact are ^said to have hap-
pened. You frei^uenily bring up the anniversary of our independence
and treat it as if it was an analogous case. Is it f I ask. The people,
the wholi people of this great country, were all conusant of die fact of
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272 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
theii* being declared free on 4hQ 4th of July, 1776 ; and from that day
to, this, this whole people of this whole country have celebrated that
great event on that day in every year — a day, which they never cele-
brated for anything before. . A^e the two cases alike ? Some few
persons, say one hundred and twenty, did not first assert the fact of
our independence, and celebi^te a day in commemoration of it, and
Anally persuade others to believe the fact and join in such celebration.
The nature of the fact was such that they could not. The cases then
are not analogous. If it had been alleged that Jesus had ascended
into the air in face of the world, and in the face of day, and 'shewed
himself to all Judea, so that every individual there could have seen
him and heard him declare audibly, " Abolish the sabbath, keep holy
' the first day of the week in commemoration of my resurrection ; "
and if the whole Jewish people had from that day, kept the first day
of the week holy, and eaten the supper in commemoration of this
event, and had also abolished the sabbath, then you might have said,
you had a case similar to the declaration and celebration of our inde-
pendence. But what is your case? Your great miracle, without
which all the rest are nothing, and w;hich, you say, baptism was in-
stituted to celebrate, was not witnessed or alleged to have been wit-
nessed by all the people, but by a very few select or chosen one&—
those few who asserted the fact and endeavored to give currency to
' the assertion, by instituting some outward action. They are a small
and despised party at first; they persevere and gain proselytes ; each
proseljrte adopts the ceremonies of his predecessors, and thus it hap-
pened, that after one or two centuries, a very small portioti of every
civilized people, except the very people, among whom and for whom
Aese great feats were done, performed a certain outward action (im-
mersion in water,) in celebration job was tlien said of a burial and re-
surrection. Strange to tell, the same burial and resurrectio;i are now
co^nmemorated by sprinkling a small quantity of water on the face,
by the greater part of this small portion."
Whether the truth and divine authority of the Christian religton be,
for the present, admitted jor denied, it is conceded by all that the au-
thor of that religion expressly enjoined upon his followers the observ-
ance of two commemorative ordinances, viz. baptism and the Lord's
supper; and that from the commencement of Christianity to the
present time, the fir^t day of the week has been observed as a com-
memorative institution by all its adherents. /
It is agreed on all hands that these institutions; were in certain
respects, analogous with the Jewish festivals, and that each of their
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INSPIRATION OF THE 80RIFTUREa rtt
public ordinanoefl and great feetivals was commemoratiTe of a difltiact
evant. It is ako agreed by aU, that as the pasehai lamb was Am in
coDunemoration of the miraculons deliverance of the Israelites, when
the destroying aogel slew the first-bom of Egypt ; so, on the night
the paschal lamb was eaten, the Lord's supper was instituted as com-
memorative of the death of him, who in the Gospel is represented as
having been slain, to make an atohement for the sins of men« It is
also agreed that the Christian sabbath is commemorative of the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now to suppose that baptismt
as Mr. Olmsted asserts, (and as it is conceded many pious *and intelli-
gent Christians believe,) is commemorative of the burial and resurrte*
tion of Christ, destroys the analogy which, in certain respects, exists
between the Jewish and the Christian institutioris. For ^uM^rding to
this supposition, we have two ordinances commemorative pf the same
event, which was not the case with any of the Jewish festivals*
Moreover one of these, viz. baptism, upon, this supposition, is com-
memorative of two facts wholly different in their nature ; the one (the
burial of Christ) natural, and the other (his resurrection) supernatural.
Again, the great object of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt,
was that they might receive the law ; hence these two facts or events
yrere commemorated by two distinct institutions. So the great object
of the death of Christ was to open the way for the reception by men
of the law of the Spirit of Lifb. . Therefore the design of the two
institutions expressly enjoined by the author of Christianity, was to
commemorate two great ficts, both of which were performed publiefy^
and in the language of Leslie, *^ such as men's outward senses could
judge of." These were his^wn death, and the descent of the Holy
Ghost. It is conceded on all hands, that the first of these was per-
formed in the most public manner, in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and
in tlie presence of the rulers and people of Israel ; therelbre on diis it
is unnecessary to dwell. - .
Jesus Christ is represented in the New Testament as having as-
. cended to heaven, seven days before the day of pentecost He was
crucified at the passover : aAer his resurrection he continued to con-
verse with the disciples, for focty days. As the law was delivered
from Mount Sinai fifty days after the Israelites left Egypt, pentecost,
which was commemorative of 1,hat fact, took place fifty days after the
passover.
. When Christ was about to ascend into heaven he commissioned ins
disciples to preach his Gospel unto all nations, baptizing them into the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, but en-
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874 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
joined upon them to remain for a short time at Jerusalem, at the same
time assuring them that not many days hence, they should be baptized
with the Holy Ghost; by which alone they could be qualified to fulfill
the commission he had given them. And there is every teason to
believe that they confidently expected to receive that gift on the day
of peiitecost; for it is stated, when ,that day was fully come, *'they
were all, vith one accord, in one place." When they were thus con-
gregated, ** Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
niighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them* , And they were all fiMed with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance."*
As already remarked, this was die^lay on which the law was given
from Mount Sinai. And on this day the law went forth out of Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The giving of this new
law was attested i>y the same symbol as the giving of the old. The
Lord descended on Mount Sinai, in fire. On this occasion there ap-
peared cloven tongues, as of fire. But although the symbol was the
same, the signification was very difierent. The fire on Mount Sinai
expressed the consuming nature of that fiery law given to the Israel-
itbh phurch ; but this expressed the purifying efficacy of the Holy
Spirit, exercised through the Gospel of peace. The one declared
that the iniquity of Israel remained ; the other that it was taken away.
The Israelites entreated that they might not see that great fire, and
that God might not speak to them any more, lest they should die.
But this fire was given as an emblem of God*s so speaking to them,
that they who believed should live. As the priests and the Levites
could not enter upon the discharge of their functions until the law
was given from Sinai ; so the apostles of Jesus Christ could not en-
ter ugbn their public ministry until they received the law of the Spir-
it of life. And as the feast of pentecost was commemorative of the
giving of the law from Sinai ; so the ordinance of baptism,, which
for the first time was on that day, and af\er the descent of the Holy
Ghost, administered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
was designed to commemorate, not the burial and resurrection of
* Christ, but the miraculous descent and influence of the Holy Spirit
This sustains the analogy which, in certain respects, exists be-
tween the Levitical and Christian institutions. The three great
* Acts IL 1—4.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 275
feasts of the foriiier, as already stated, were the passover, the pente*
eosty and th^ feast of tabernacles; the first to pommemorate the
miraeulous deliverance of the Israelites, the token being the blood of
the paschal lamb ; the second, to commemorate the delivery of the
law from Mount Sinai; and the last, during which the law was
publicly read, and expounded to the people, to express their gratitude
to God for his dealings towards them, and their miraculous preserva-
tion in the wilderness, and also to express their trust in him.
So in the Gospel dispensation, we have three great leading and
commemorative institutions ; two of them expressly enjoined by its
author, and the third instituted "by the apostles : the Lord's supper,
baptism, and the Christian sabbath. The first, like the passpver, to
commemorate the deliverance of guilty men through the* blood and
atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ The second, like the /east of pen-
tscost, to combiemorate the issuing of the law of the Spirit of life.
And the third, bearing a striking analogy to the feast of tabernacles,
being commemorative of the res^rection of Jesus Christ, who thereby
procured for his followers all spiritual blessings ; and gave them a
pledge that as the Israelites were protected during their wanderings
in the wilderness, and were finally put in possession of the promised
land ; they too, during their pilgrimage, should be supplied with all
needed good, and finally reach their purchased possession. This
view of the subject presents the ordinances of the Gospel as full of
meaning, and both beautiful and harmonious. Bat to nndntain that
baptism is commemorative of the burial and resurrection of Christ,
is to introduce confusion, and to leave that great v fact, the descent of
the Holy Ghost, which gives life and efficacy to the whole S3rstem,
destitute of any commemorative ordinance whatever. Moreover, as
the facts commemorated under the Levitical dispensation, were per-
formed in the most public manner, sq also were these two great fl^$ts,
which Jesus Christ designed to be commemorated by the two ordin-
ances which he expressly enjoined upon his followers. We have al-
ready seen that the crucifixion of Christ was performed^in the most
public manner ; and the descent of the Holy Ghost was equally so:
The day of penteoost was a holy convocation to the Jewish church,
and at that time there were present at Jerusalem, not only great mul-
titudes of the inhabitants of Judea, but also Parthians, and Medes^
and Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, and Cappadocia, and
Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia in Eg3rpt, and in the parts of
Libya about C3nrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Cretes and Arabians. And when the report of the effusion of the Ho-
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tTB DIVINE AUTHOBITY AND
ly Spirit was ipread through the dty, the multitades just meDtioiied
repaired to the spot ; and w6re oonfoanded at the rairacle, became
every man heard the difciples speak in his own langnage. And they
were amazed, and marveHed, saying one to another, Behold, are not
all these which speak Galileans ! and how hear we every man in oar
own tongne, wherein we were bora T * Therefoce this miracle was
performed in the most public manner, and was addressed to men's
external senses, and as a consequence, three thousand persons on that
occasion were converted to the Christian faith ; and were the first sub-
jects of that erd^iance which the author of Christianity designed to
be commemorative of that great miraculous fact. And in a very
short time aflerwards, five thousand more were added to the chnrob,
many of whom no doubt were present on that occasion. * We are
also informed that among the converts were a great company of the
priests. Mr. Olmsted, therefore, is mistaken in assehing duit ** die
great miracle which baptism was designed tp commemorate was wil*
nessed only by a very few select or chosen ones," and as is usual with
him, in his attempts to destroy the force of Mr. Leslie's argument*
instead of combating the statements of the evangelists, he k waging
war upon an error which has crept into the church.t
Mr. Olmsted asserts that the Christians were at first a small de»>
pisod party ; but according to him, U hajppentd that after one or tw%
centuries a v^ inuiU porHon of every civilized people-became proe-
dytes to the Christian fiuth, except among the Jews themselves.
But we have just shown, that immediately upon die opening of the
commission of the aposdes, great multitades believed.^ It has also
been shown, that in the reign of Claudius, only ten or fifteen years
after the death of Christ, Christianity had spread as far as Rome ;
and diat from the letter of Pliny to the emperor Tiajan, only abovt
seventy years after the first promulgation of the Gospel, the remote
province of which he was the governor, was so filled vrith Christians,
not only in the cities, towns, and villages^ but in the open country^
* Acts, thap, ii.
f It U to the writer a cease of regret, that helihould feel conitnined, in the advo-
C9CJ of the truth, to introduce into this work any topic which can be construed
into controversy with his bttdiren, of any Christian denomination. He would
beg leaye to assure tfaoee who may &vor these pages with a perusal, that in ooid-
bating a fiivorite opinion of a very numerous and useful denpmination of evangeli-
cal Christians, he has no design whatever to wound or in any way to hanss Sieir
feelings. And if any such will point out to him, another mode of suofwfaBy
' meeting the In£del objection which has been under consideration, and which will be
consistent with truth ; should this work readi a second edition, he will cheerfully
tit .
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 2T7
Uiat the temples of the heathen gods were deserted, and purchasers
of the sacrifices could not be found. So that although Christians
were despised by the heathens and by the unbelieving Jews, yet so
far firom their being confined for one or two centuries to a very small
portion of every civilized nation ; before the death of the men who
witnessed the facts which the Christian institutions are designed to
commemorate, there is every reason to believe that a very large por^
tion of every civilized nation were Christians, and among whom the
commemorative institutions of the Gospel of Christ were regularly
observed.
Mr. Olmsted maintains that there is no analogy between the ob-
servance of the Christian institutions, and that of the anniversary of
American independence. But from what has been said, the intelligent
reader cannot but perceive that the cases are strikingly analogous. It
is true that " the people, the whole people, of this great country were
all conusant of the fact of their being declared free on the 4th of July,
1776, and that from that day to this the people of this whole country
have celebrated that great event on that day in every year, a day
which they never celebrated for any thing before." And it is equally
true, that all the disciples, who, on the day of pentecost, were with
one accord in one place; and the three thousand, who were then
added to the church ; and in all probability the greater number of the
five thousand, who shortly after were added to it, were aH comisant
of the fact that the Holy Ghost did, on that day, miraculously de-
scend among the disciples, for their own eyes and their own ears
witnessed the miraculous facts. And from that day to this. Christians,
all Christians, and every individual among them, (with the exception
of a very small sect that have sprang up in modem times) however
dispersed over the whole earth, have kept up the memory of that
miraculous event by observing an ordinance, which previously had
never been practised. Nor does the fact that baptism was previously
administered among the Jews invalidate the truth of this statement ;
nor yet does it destroy the analogy which exists between the observ-
ance of this ordinance and that of the anniversary of American inde-
pendence.
The 4th of July, 1776, although a day of public rejoicing, on
account of American independence, was not the first day of publie
rejoicing ever held in this country. Previous to that period, the 4th
of June was so held, but commemorative of the birth of George
III. the then sovereign of the country. But when independence was
proclaimed, the day of rejoicing was changed from the 4th of June
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t78 DIVINB AUTHORiry AND
to the 4th of July, and it no longer commemortted the birdi of a
king, but the independence of a nation. Juet so it was with baptiam;
preyioua to the day of pentecoet divers washings pbtained among ^
Jews, as divers rejoicings have long obtained among civilized nations*
Then John baptized unto repentance; and the disciples of Jesus bap-
tized because Uie kingdom of heaven was at hand ; but when the day
of pentecost was fully come and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost
commenced, then for the first time were men baptiied into the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and this bap-
tism has been practised from that day to this, as commemorative of
that miraculous event ; as the public rejoicings held by the citizens
of the United States on the 4th of July of every year, are commemo-
rative of the declaration of independence.
As there is no way to account for the celebration of American in-
dependence, except upon the ground that the history in relation to
this matter is true ; upon the same principle alone can we account
for the existence and practice of baptism, the observance of the Lord's
supper and the Christian sabbath. If the writings of the evangelists
are rejected, how is the observance of the Christian ordinances to be
accounted fort There must have been some reasons for these obser-
vances ; Christians certainly did not begin and establish them for no-
thing. If the causes assigned in the New Testament be not ^e trae
causes, will the Infidel point them outT Mr. O. informs us that a
few select or chosen ones, asserted that Jesus Christ had risen from
thi^dead, and they endeavored to give currency to the assertion, by
some outward action. But if Jesus Christ did not die and rise again,
who selected these men to make this assertion T And how did it
oome to pass that a statement of this nature, without the shadow of
evidence to support it, was so firmly believed by those to whom it
was made, that in the course of a few weeks from the commencement
of the imposture, eight thousand Jews, and among them a great num-
ber of the priests, in the very city where Jesus Christ was said to
have been crucified and rose again, and who had every opportonity to
sift this matter to the bottom, became the dupes of the few who (origi-
nated this falsehood? Is it to be supposed that ^ese men bdieved
without testimony? and that with all the superior advantages enjoy-
ed by them, they had not sufiicient sagacity to discover an imposture,
which Mr. O. at this great distance of time has been enabled to ex-
pose to his followers ! But what are his prooCs ? We have nothing
but his bare assertion, and it is as easy to assert that the celebration of
American independence Lb groimded upon a falsehood, as that the i
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INSPIRATION OF THE 8CRIPTUBE8. 9)9
memontive ordinances of Christianity have no foaadation in troth.
But as he who deniesthat American independence was ever proclaim-
ed« is bound by an appeal to the pages of history to sustain his alle-
gation ; so also, he who denies that the facts commemorated by the
Christian institutions ever occurred, is bound to give his reasons, ad-
duce his proofs, and explain the ori^ of the fraud. Mr. Olmsted
has assigned his reasons for disbelieving the truth of the facts ; and as
has been seen, they consist in supposition, misapprehension, and mis-
representation : so that Mr. Leslie's argument remains invulneraUe.
^0»«^^»i^»V^^/V>/%
SECTION I.
Let us now apply Mr. Leslie's criteria to a few of the miracles
recorded in the Scriptures.
For example : could Moses have persuaded six hundred thousand
men, that they had witnessed the plagues in Egypt ? that they had
passed through the Red sea, and beheld the whole host of Pharaoh
perish ? Or could he have instituted the passover in commemoration of
the destruction of the Egyptian first-bom ? Could he have persuaded
them that during forty years they were sustained with food from hea-
ven ? That sometimes they were supplied with water from the fiinty
rock ? That throughout their journey they beheld the cloud of the
Lord on the tabernacle by day, and the fire by night ? 7*hat during
the forty years they were in the wilderness, their raiment waxed not
old, neither did their feet swell ? and that they passed over Jordan
on dry ground, while the waters stood and rose ijp upon an heap, un-
less these things, however extraordinary, were facts ? To all these Mr.
Leslie's criteria apply, for: 1st. The facts were such as men's outward
senses could judge of; therefore, if the whole Israelitish nations were
not entirely destitute of eyes and ears, if they were not bereft of rea-
son and sense, an imposition could not have been practised upon
them.
2nd. They were performed publicly, in the presence of witnesses,
who consisted of upwards of two millions of persons, and who re-
mained collected in one camp for forty years ; an assembly so great
probably never before or since, remained collected in one body for so
long a period.
3rd. Public monuments and actions were kept up in memory of
them, to commemorate their deliverance when the first-born of Egypt
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ili WISE AUTHOmTY AND
were destroyed. Moses changed ftie beginning of their year, to the
month when tiiis happened, and instituted the feast of the passover.
To this was added the solemn consecration of the first-born of both
man and beast to the Lord, with the following remarkable charge an-
nexed :
•• And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, say-
ing, What is this ? thou shalt say to him, By strength of hand the
Lord brought us out from Egypt, tom the house of bondage ; and it
came to pass when Pkaiaoh would haidly let us go, thai the Lord
slew all the first-bom in the land of Egypt, both the first-bom of man
and the first-bom of beasts ; therelire I sacrifice to the Lord all
that openeth the matrix." *
In further commemoration of the destruction of the first-bom of
the Egyptians, the Hibe of Levi was set apart ; and beside the pass-
over, the feast of tabemacles was instituted to perpetuate the deliver-
ance of the Israelites, and their journey ings in the desert, t The
feast of pentecost was appointed fifty days after the passover,:^ in
memory of the miraculous deliverance of the law from Mount Sinai,
which took place fifly days after their departure from Egypt. The
memory of their miraculous supply of food was perpetuated by the
pot of manna, and their miraculous passage over Jordan, by the
twelve stones set up by Joshua at Gilgal. So 4h'at in all these in-
stances, we have also Mr. Leslie's fourth mark ; for the commemora-
tive monuments and actions were established or commenced at the
time of the facts.
The irresistible reasoning of Mr. Leslie on the monument set up
by Joshua at Gilgal, the reader has already seen. If a fictitious rea-
son for the existence of a bare monument, of whose origin we are
ignorant, cannot be imposed upon us ; how much more impossible
must it be to impose upon us in actions and observances which we
celebrate in memory of particular events! and how impossible to
persuade us, that we have always kept certain institutions in memory
of events of which we have never heard ! And if it be impossible
for an imposition to be practised upon us, in things which have not
all the marks which have been specified ; how much more impossible
would it be to impose upon us in that in which every one of them
meets !
All the marks of Mr. Leslie apply with peculiar force to the mira-
cles of Jesus Christ, and of his apostles.
* Exod. ziiL 14, 16. f Lev. xxiii. 40. ^ Lev. zziii 15—31.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCBIPniBES. m
The number of miracles performed by Jesus Christ was very great
Those that are recorded are about forty in number. Jf we take into
account the several instances in which we are fold that great rnuMi'
tudes flocked to him, who were for ihe most |^art afflicted with dis>
eases which human skill could not cure, and that he healed them all;
and that he fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes, it is evident
that the miracles he performed were beyond all number; and one
of his biographers states that he performed a greater number than are
in any way recorded. But &eir variety is m» less striking than their
number. It was the variety, ne less than the number of the mirades
performed by Moses in Egypt, that convinced the magifians they
were done by the power of God. And the reason is obvious; for a
variety of supernatural works,^and each perfect in its kind, suggests to
the mind the idea that they were produced b^ an all powerful, and
perfect, designing agent. Jesus Christ cured, not only one kind of
disease, but all, and the cures he effected were perfeet. He not
only cured all manner of diseases, but by a word he gave sight to the
blind, and hearing to the deaf. Thereby he made the maimed, (those
who wanted a limb) perfect, those who shook with the palsy robust,
the bowed double straight. Thereby he restored the insane and de-
moniacs to reason, and the dead to life. And the same mighty works
were performed in his name by the aposdes, and that too, without
hesitation or diffidence ; and every day, and every week, fbr years in
succession, were they performed, and in the most public manner, in
presence of friends and foes, thereby precluding all possibility of the
practice of fraud. These circumstances, together with the effects
produced upon the persons who were the subjects of them, account
fbr the incontestible fact that their reality was never denied by those
who witnessed them.
It is not so with the pretended miracles of impostors ; such persons
never have pretended to work many miracles, and they have uniform-
ly confined themselves to one species of them ; then, usually, they
have either been performed in private, or the accounts of them were
written many yealrs ,after they were said to have been wrought
Livy records the performance of certain jniracles, but then he does
not pretend to have seen any of them, for they happened long before
his time, and his relations are founded upon vague reports, while the
consequences of these pretended miracles affected no one. The best
authenticated heathen miracles are those which the emperor Vespa*
sian is said to have performed on a blind and a lame man, and re-
corded by Tacitus and Suetonius. The relation of them is as follows ;
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282 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
*< Two men of low rank -in Alexandria, one of them blind, the other
lame in one of hii hands, came both together to him, (Vefipasian) in
a humble manner, saying that they had been in a dream admonished
by the god Serapis to apply to him for the cure of their disorders ;
which ^ey were assured might be done for the one, if he would be
pleased to anoint his eyes and face with his spitde, and for the other
if he would vouchsafe to tread upon his hand. Vespasian, as is said*
hesitated for a while. However, the physicians having been consult-
ed, they gave their opinion that the organs of sight were not destroyed
in the blind man, and that sight might be restored if obstacles were
removed, and that the other's hand wds only disjointed, and with
proper remedies might be set right again. At length, moved by the
flatteries of those about him, Vespasian performed what had been de*
sired, and the effect was answerable ; one of them presently recovered
the use of his hand, and the other his sight'* There is no reason to
believe that any miracle was then wrought, but every reason to sus-
pect that the whole was a contrivance between Vespasian and his
friends and flatterers. No one would scrutinize these pretended
miracles, for to have made remarks upon them would have brought
down the vengeance of the emperor and his favorites. But Sueto-
nius shows that the whole affair was' a fraud, by acknowledging that
somewhat was wanting to give dignity and authority to a new cho-
sen emperor, who belonged to a family that was not renowned for its
antiquity. How very different were those pretended miracles from
those recorded in the New Testament. These were done by a migh-
ty emperor, surrounded by his courtiers and soldiers, and tended to the
honor of the tutelar god of the city ; therefore they passed without
examination. But those of Jesus Christ and his disciples, were pep>
formed by a few obscure individuals, in the midst of their enemiesy
and opposed by all the powers of the state.
The Roman Oathotics profess to have worked miracles without
number; but many of them are so absurd and ridiculous, that even a
diild would laugh at them. Some again are shockingly profane and
impious. Many of them have been proved to have been impos-
tures, and that by the acknowledgments of the persons employed in
them. This being the case, no credit can be given to the rest ; for
when a person has been repeatedly convicted of falsehood no confi-
dence can afterwards be placed in his statements. Besides, both the
miracles asserted to have been wrought by the Roman Catholies, and
the heathens, were performed in confirmation of a religion supported
by the state, and embraced by the people ; therefore, on this ground
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INSPmATION OP THE SCREPTURES. 288
idone, they may be justly suspected. But the miracles of Jesus
Christ and his apostles were wrought against the religions then estab-
lished ; and their design was to found a new religion upon the ruins
of all others. Therefore, instead of mankind being prejudiced in
their favor, the prejudices of all men were against them. Nothing
but their reality could accomplish the end for which they were
wrought ; and as they did succeed, it follows, that the record of them
which has been transmitted to us is worthy of our implicit confi-
dence.
The object for which the miracles of Jesus Christ and his apostles
were wrought recommend them as in every way worthy of their
Almighty Author. It was to carry on one vast and consistant plan of
providence, extending from the creation of man to the consummation
of all things ; to establish a system of faith and practice, suited -to
man*s moral condition, and the direct tendency of which was, to
destroy Atheism, scepticism, immorality and vice. And in subserv-
ience to this their grand object, and for the confirmation of his divine
mission, the miracles of Jesus Christ were directed to the alleviation
of human misery in every form, and thereby not only bespeak the
almighty power but also the infinite goodness of their author. Those
of them which were performed in consequence of the entreaty of the
sufierers and their friends, exhibit the character of Jesus m the most
touching and amiable light. For instance, the case of the ruler, whose
daughter lay at the point of death. In the narrative we are informed,
'< There came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the syna-
gogue : and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he
would come into his house : for he had one only daughter, about
twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people
thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years,
who had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed
of any, came behind him and touched the hem of his garment : and
immediately her issue of blood staunched. And Jesus said, Who
touched me ? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him
said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest
thou. Who touched me ? Jesus said. Somebody hath touched me :
for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman
saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down be-
fore him, she declared unto him before all the people, for what cause
she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he
said unto her. Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made
thee whole; go in peace. While he yet spake, there cometh one
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284 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
from the niler of the synagogae's house, saying to him, Thy daugfat^
is dead, trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard this he said,
Ftar not; believe onfyy and $he shall be made whole,** * In this
brief narrative, we have two instances of that divine compassion,
which was ever open to the cries of the miserable, and in both cases
Jesus is presented before us in the most amiable light The circum-
stances of the application by Jairus are remarkably beautiful. Here
we behold a ruler of the s3magogue, and consequently an enemy,
or liable to be viewed as one, in circumstances of great distress,
£dling down at the feet of Jesus, beseeching him to come to his
house, to relieve his daughter, his only daughter, who lay a dying.
The compassionate Jesus complied with his request, and as he is
going to the house, a most benevolent cure was wrought by only
touching the hem of his garment Meanwhile the young woman
expires, and a messenger is sent to prevent his taking any Airther
trouble. This new distress heightens the compassionate favor, and
it draws from the mouth of Jesus the reviving declaration : Fear not;
believe only, and she mIwU be made whole. Here there is nothing
studied, no preparation, no attempt at parade, but all is perfectly natu-
ral and beautifully touching.
But Jesus did not always wait for an application in order to exer-
cise his compassion and benevolence. He went about doing good,
and we often see him, unasked, interposing with the most exquisite
sensibility. How exquisitely affecting is the case of the afflicted old
man lying at the pool of Bethesda. Here is a helpless and distressed
old man, who had been for many years greatly afflicted. Jesus be-
holds his sad condition : his compassion is moved. " Wilt thou be
made whole ?" is his language to this object of pity. The impotent
man answered him, ** Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled,
to put me into the pool ! " Je9U9 aaith tmto him. Take tq) thy bed
and walk. Where except in the Scriptures, can an instance be ad-
duced, of relief dispensed with such grace and dignity, as in this in-
stance was exhibited by Jesus Christ ? But here is another case : the
distress is of the most tender kind. A mother, and she a widow, has
lost her son, her only son ; accompanied by much people she is fol-
lowing her last earthly hope to the grave— her anguish of spirit can
be conceived of, only by those who have been similariy tried. Jesus
meets the funeral procession ; he beholds the distressed and afflicted
mother, and he has compassion on her, and says unto her, Weq^
* Luke viiL 41 — 60.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 285
not. How deeply affecting is the narrative. In pursuing it we
sympathize with the distress of this sorrowful mother ; we participate
in the sympathy of the attendants ; and we are constrained to admire
and to love him who, in the exercise of his diffusive benevolence,
graciously and timely interposes. Jesus came and touched the bieff
and said. Young man, arise ; and when the miracle was performed,
and the young man had risen up, how natural, and how full of be-
nevolent compassion and goodness is the language which follows:
Jind he delivered him to his mother. *
The greatness of the miracles performed by Jesus Christ demands
particular notice. The cures effected by him, even the simplest in-
stances, were very different from those attributed to Vespasian, who
made no attempt until informed that the subjects were not incu-
rable. It was not so with those of Christ. In every instance, the
disease was in its nature incurable or inveterate, and had baffled every
effort of art. But Jesus removed it instantaneously, by a word, or
by a touchy or by applieations so simple, that in the hands of man
they were altogether insufficient, and in one instance at least, without
being present, so that the means used clearly proves the work to be
divine.
The manner in which Christ's miracles were performed, is equally
worthy of attention. They were wrought in the most public man-
ner. Jesus did not act as though something had to be kept secret,
which if disclosed would bring discredit on his works. He appeared
as a public instructor of mankind ; and in accordance with this charac-
ter, his doctrines were delivered in public, and his miracles, which
were designed to support them, were also performed in the most pub-
lic manner, in places most frequented, and on the most public occa-
sions. Many of them were performed at Jerusalem, when great
multitudes were congregated there, attending the solemn festivals of
the nation ; and others in the presence of multitudes, who had col-
lected to hear his doctrines, and to be healed by him of their in-
firmities. The openness of the miracles was a defiance to the malice
of his enemies, who were the chief men of the nation, and to the in-
credulity of the world. And what he asserted of his doctrine is
equally applicable to his miracles. ** / spake openly,^* said he *< to
the worldV " / ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple^
whither the Jews always resort^ and in secret have I said nothing.^* f
For these reasons, the contemporaries of Jesus Christ were constrain*
* Luke YiL 15. j John zviii 20.
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986 DIVINE AUTHOBITY AND
ed to admit the reality of the miracles performed both by himself and
his apostles ; but they ascribed them to various causes, and denied
that diey were proofs of his divinity. When he was upcm the cross
his enemies themselves made this admission, for they taunted him tm
not being able to save himself, although he had saved otheis. And*
as has been already shewn, when the facts were too recent to admit
of a denial, the most virulent enemies of Christianity, such as Gel-
sus, Hierocles, Porphyry, Julian, and the Talmudicial writers, ad-
mitted their reality, but attributed them to the power oi magic. And
a candid and impartial examination of the circumstances attending the
performance of the miracles of Christ must, in the uncontaminated
mind, produce the conviction that they were wrought by the mighty
power of Gk>d, and incontestibly prove that Jesus was the promised
Messiah ; for he performed the v^ry miracles which the prophets pre*
dieted he would perform, and which could have been done by none
but a messenger sent from God.
The great miracle, that which is the most remarkable of all, the
RisuRREOTiON of Jesus Christ from the ddad, which lies at the very
foundation of Christianity, demands our particular attention. For, if
this fail, the Christian religion cannot be maintained, but is proved
to be false ; for, as Paul argues, ** If Christ be not risen again, then
is oor preaching vain ; your faith is also vain.'* But if the tnith of
this great fact be established, it is of itself sufficient to prove the di-
vine mission of ihe founder of the Christian religion. The whole
strength of the arguments of the Infidels who have attacked the nar-
ratives of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, lies in what they term the
iUerq>anc%e$i which are to be found in the accounts of die evangel-
ists. These have been, in effect, already answered ; and as the low
ribaldry of such writers as Paine and Olmsted would be calculated
only to excite disgust in the minds of candid persons who sincerely
mquire after the truth, we will not insert their sophistry, but present
the subject in such a light, as to shew that the great fact of the resur-
vection is impregnable to all the assaults of Infidelity.
• All the evangelists unanimously declare, that Christ himself ven-
tured repeatedly to predict, during his life time, that the chief priests
and the scribes would deliver him to the Gentiles for the purpose of
effiscting his crucifixion, but uniformly accompanied this prediction
with the declaration, that on the third day he would rise from the
dead. That these predictions were not the imaginary conceits of a
fruitful fancy, which delighted in wild imaginings, is evident from the
fact that they were either intermixed with such circumstances, as do
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTUREa 287
not of themselves easily enter into the minds of men, or with those
which seem to have no sort of relation with one another. In the lan«
guage of Mr. Home : *' It is altogether improbable that the evangelists
should have invented Christ's discourse with Peter, concerning the
sufferings which would certainly befall him at his going up to Jem-
salem."
Moreover, it is to be observed, that Peter had just before made that
noble confession in the presence of all the other disciples : TTiou art
the Christf the Son of the living God^ and that Christ had crowned
this admirable confession with that extraordinary promise of his :
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not reveal-
ed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven ; and I say also
unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock wiU IbuUd my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Immedi-
ately af\er Christ foretold what death he was to suffer from the chief
priests and scribes, but added, that he should rise on the third day.
On hearing which Peter rebuked him and said. Be it far from thee^
O Lord; this shall not be unto thee. But Jesus Christ, instead of ap-
proving this expression of his affectionate esteem for him, severely
reproved his indiscretion in these words : Get thee behind me, Satan;
thou art an offence unto me, for thou savorest not the things that
be of God, biU those that be of pun.
This history seems to be very natural and sincere ; and that mixtnre
of circumstances, which, in all probability, have no manner of rela-
tion with one another, could not of itself enter into the mind of any
man. Peter's confession was excellent, and the promise made to him
by Christ was extraordinary ; nay, the very expression of it implied
something strange and difficult; but, above all, it appears at first
sight, that Christ censured too severely the great zeal manifested by
Peter for his person ; and it does not seem very natural that he, who
said unto him : Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, and who promised
to make him a pillar in his church, should almost immediately after
say to him : Get thee behind me, Satan. It is evident that this was
the force of truth, and not the natural agreement of those circumstan-
ces which obliged the evangelists to join them both together in one
wmd the same recital.
What necessarily occasions this remark, is ■ the fact that Jesus
Christ had really foretold his death and resurrection, before he had
suffered the former, and before the latter had taken effect. But
what proves this fact more strongly than any thing else, is that Jesus
Christ, the very day before his passion, did such a thing as had nev-
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288 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
er been done before, and which, doubdess, will nerer be dcnqe agnn,
▼iz : ** He institated a memorial of that death, whidi he was just ob
the point of saffering. He foretold that he wonld sofier death from
the chief priests, the scribes, and doctors of the law ; which yet be
might easily have avoided, if he would, by withdrawing into another
place. Bat he rebuked the indiscreet zeal of Peter, who would have
diverted him from that death : therefore, he considered it as an event
which was to be attended with the happiest and most beneficial con-
sequences to mankind. And with what happy consequences could
his death have been attended, unless it was to have been immediately
fdlowed by his resurrection ? " *
The prophecy of Jesus Christ, that he would be put to death, and
that on the third day he would rise again, was by no means kept a
secret among his disciples, but it was speedily divulged, and^ as is ev-
ident from their language to Pilate, it soon reached the ears of his in*
veterate enemies, the chief priests and the Pharisees; who being thos
duly warned, were prepared to take all necessary precautions, and
put his pretensions to the test. As the great object of the enemies
of Christianity (with the exception of Taylor, the unreasonableness
of whose statements has been fully exposed) in their attacks upon the
narrative of the death and resurrection of Christ is to invalidate the
testimony of the evangelists, by pointing out what they term contra-
dictions in their statements, they virtually acknowledge he did die up-
on the cross. And the evidence by which that (act is supported, is
peculiarly clear and direct. Many circumstances relative to his seiz-
ure, his trial, his going to Calvary, smd his crucifixion^ are minutely
specified. Various particulars of time, place, persons, discourses,
^., are set down. The chief priests are mentioned, and Pilate, and
Herod as parties concerned. His crucifixion took place in die most
public manner, in the suburbs of the city, which was the capital of
the nation ; daring a solemn festival, when multitudes were assembled
from different countries and from all patis of Judea. Moreover, it
took place in the daytime, when all who were so disposed had an op-
portunity of witnessing the scene. These circumstances, together
with his hanging six hours upon the cross, his being pierced in the
side by one of the soldiers with his spear, and blood and water visi-
bly flowing from the wound, are incontestible proofs that death must
have taken place. Add to these circumstances, that as the Roman
centurion was accountable for an escape, his duty would require of
* Home, vol L p. 878.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 289
him that he should not pennit the bod7 to be removed, until he was
thoroughly convmced that life was extinct ; and he would be more
exact as the soldiers, seeing that Jesus was already dead, brake not
his legs. Pilate had been threatened by the Jewish rulers with an
accusation to the emperor, which- influenced him to condemn Christ
to crucifixion ; lest he might afterwards be accused, would be care-
ful that the body should not be removed until it was really dead.
Accordingly, we learn that when Joseph of Aramathea craved of him
the body of Jesus, he would not permit it to be removed until he had
sent for the centurion *< and asked him whether he had been any
while dead ;" * and not until he was satisfied from his testimony did
fae permit the body to be taken down.
As the chief priests and Pharisees were apprized of Christ's pre-
diction, that 6n thd third day he would rise again, they would take
care that the body should not be taken down from the cross, until,
they were convinced that life was extinct. When the body was ta-
ken down, had his friends believed there were any remains of life
they would not have wound it round so closely in linen clothes, with
Bpices, as was the manner of the Jews. But if notwithstanding all
the precautions taken, life was not extinct, when the body was re-
moved from the cross and placed in the sepulchre, mangled and
pierced as it was, and in this condition lying in a cold cave,, so wrapt
up as to be unable to stir, from six o'clock on Friday afternoon, till
(he dawn of the first day of the week, the bedy must have been truly
dead. Further, the chief priests and the Pharisees, the day after his
burial, came together to Pilate, that the necessary precautions might
be taken to prevent any attempt, fraudulentiy to bring ^>out an appar-
ent accomplishment of his prophecy. Sir, said they, we remember
that that depeiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days I
tvill rise again, (From this it is evident Uiey were convinced he
was dead.) Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure
until the third day; lest his disciples come by night and steal him
away, and say unto the people. He is risen from the dead. So the
last error shall be worse llian the first. With this request, Pilate
complied, giving them a guard of Roman soldiers, as large as they
chose. The sepulchre was hewn out of a rock, and a great stone
was rolled to the mouth of it. When tlie chief priests and Pharisees
set the watch, they sealed this stone, and they would be careful to see
that ihe body was within.t Than this, no arrangen^ent could be bet^
— — , I
*MaikxY. 44, tMattzzm60-«6.
3 A 89 2
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200 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
ter conceived, for thereby a double guard waa placed over the body
of Jesua ; th^ watch to take care that the disciples should not steal
it away; and the seal to prevent the guards from being corrupted
so as to prevent the theft Jesus Christ had declared that, an the
third day^ he would rise again. And the chief priests and Pharisees
took every precaution which human policy and prudence could die*
tate, to prevent a resurrection, and to enable them to exhibit the body
after the specified time had fully elapsed. The prediction of Christ
was before the public. The precautions taken by the chief priests
and the Pharisees were equally public ; so that the matter was
brought to a regular issue, and the entire question, whether he wa» or
was not the Messiah? was suspended on the naked fact, tffhether he
did or did not rise again on the third day 9
From the course pursued by the chief priests and Pharisees, who,
with all their pretended zeal for the sabbath, were very busy on that
day, consulting and making their preparations, it is very evident that
their design was, on the third day^ to produce the dead body of
Christ, and triumphandy to exhibit it to the entire conviction of the
populace, and to the utter confusion oi his now confessedly deluded
followers. But what happened when the fatal day arrived ? Did'
they produce the body? Nothing of the sort. Notwithstanding their
precautions, the public seal upon the stone, and the guard of Roman
soldiers, which had been set to watch the sepulchre, to prevent the
possibility of any fraud on the part of the* disciples, early in the
morning, at dawn, or a little before it, it was found that the body was
missing, and it could not be produced. Tet none of thd watch had
deserted their post while it was in the sepulchre, nor was any force
used against the soldiers, or any arts of persuasion employed, to in-
duce them to take it away, or to permit any other person to remove
it But that the body was missing, is a fact in which both the Jew-
ish council and the apostles were agreed ; the difficulty b how the fact
is to be satisfactorily accounted for. The disciples of Jesus account-
ed for it in one way, and the Jewish council in another. We will at-
tend to both. 1st. The Christian mode. The lately terrified and
scattered disciples now came boldly forward* and declared that he had
actually risen from ^e dead, and had thus accomplished his own proph-
ecy. They alleged that they themselves had. repeatedly seen him, and
conversed with him, and even eaten with him, and handled him. And
to fully did they seem impressed with the truth of their testimony, that
from this time all their courage returned, and they boldly preached him
as the promised Messiah, on the express gronnd of his resurrection*
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTUREa 201
As no four difltinct witnesses in a court of justice among whom
ibere is no collusion, when giving their testimony to the same facts,
will relate precisely the same circumstances, and in exactly the same
way, so the accounts of the four evangelists who have narrated the
circumstances attending the resurrection of Jesus Christ, do not each
relate all the oircumstances ; but, by a collection and comparison of
their several narratives, in which there is nothing discordanU the fol-
lowing is the substance of their testimony, abridged from the unan-
swerable treatise of Mr. West, on the resurrection.
" Very early in the first day of the week (the day immddiately fol-
lowing the sabbath, and the third from the death of Christ) Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary, in pursuance of the design of em-
balming the Lord's body, which they had concerted with the other
women who attended him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and for the
performing of which they had prepared unguents and spices, set out,
in order to take a view of the sepulchre, just as the day began to
break; and about the time of their setting out, ** there was a great
earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
can^e and rolled back the -stone from the door of the sepulchre, and
sat upon it: his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white
as snow ; and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as
dead men,*' during whose amazement and terror, Christ came out of
the sepulchre; and the keepers being now recovered out of their
trance and fled, the angel, who till then sat upon the stone, quitted the
station on the outside, and entered into the sepulchre, and probably
disposed the linen clothes and tapkin in that order in which they
were afterwards found and observed by John and Peter. Mary Mag-
dalene, in the meanwhile, and the other Mary, were still on their
way to the sepulchre, where, together with Salome, (whom they had
either called upon or met as they were going,) they arrived at the
rising of the sun. And as they drew near, discoursing about the
method of putting their intent of embalming the body of their Master
into execution, «* they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away
the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? for it was very great ;" and
they themselves (the two Maries at least) had seen it placed there two
days before, and seen with what difficulty it was done. But in the
midst of their deliberation about removing this great and sole obstacle
to their design, (for it does not appear that they knew any thing of
the guard,) lifting up their eyes, while /they were yet at some dis-
tance, they perceived it was already rolled away. Alarmed at so ex-
traordinary and so unexpected a circumstance, Mary Magdalene, oon-
2
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292 DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
eluding that, as the stone conld not be mored withoat a great number
of hands, so it was not rolled away without some design, and that
they who rolled it away could have no other design but to remove the
Lord's body; and being convinced by appearances that they had
done so, ran immediately to acquaint Peter and John with what she
had seen and what she suspected, leaving Mary and Salome there*
that if Joanna and the other women should come in the meantime,
they might acquaint them with their surprise at finding the stone re-
moved and the body gone, and of Mary Magdalene's running to in-
form the two above-mentioned apostles of it. While she was going
on this errand, Mary and Salome went on, and entered into the sepul-
chre, ** and there saw an angel sitting on the right side, cloth^ in a
long white garment, and they were affrighted. And he saith untp
Ihem, Be not affrighted ; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was cruci-
fied ; he ^is risen, he is not here ; behold the place where they laid
him. But go your way, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he goeth
before you into G^ilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
And they went out quickly and fled from the sepulchre, for they trem-
bled and were amazed ; neither said they any tiling to any man, for
they were afraid." After the departure of Mary and Salome, came
John and Peter, who, having been informed by Mary Magdalene that
the body of the Lord was taken away out of the sepulchre, and that
she knew not where they had laid him, ** ran both together to the se-
pulchre, and the other disciple [John] outran Peter, and canie first to
the sepulchre; and he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen
clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, fol-
lowing him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes
lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen
clotl^es, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also
that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and
believed ; for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise
again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their
own home. * But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping ; and .
as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and
seeth two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other
at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain ; and they say unto her.
Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them. Because they
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw
Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto
her, Woman, why weepest thou ? Whom seekest thou ? She, sup-
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 208
posing him to be the gardener, satth unto him, Sir, if thoa hare borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him
away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary ! 8he turned herself, and saith
unto him, Rabboni ! which is to say, Master I Jesus saith unto her.
Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father ; but go to
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your
Father, and to my God and your God." After this appearance of
Christ to Mary Magdalene, to whom, St Mark says expressly, he
appeared first, the other Mary and Salome, who had fled from the se-
pulchre in such jterror and amazement that they said not any thing to
any man, (that is, as I understand, had not told the message of the
angel to some whom they met, and to whom they were directed to
deliver it,) were met on their way by Jesus Christ himself, who said
to them, ** All hail ! And they came and held him by the feet and
worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell
my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."
These several women and the two apostles being now gone from the
sepulchre, Joanna, ivith the other Galilean women, " and o^ers with
them, came bringing the spices which they had prepared for the em-
balming the body of Jesus, and finding the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre, they entered in, but not finding &e body of the Lord Jesus,
they were much perplexed thereabout, and behold two men stood by
them in shining garments ; and as they were afraid and bowed down
their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living
among the dead ? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he
spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying. The Son of
man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, and
returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven,
and to all the rest. And their words seemed to them as idle tales,
and they believed them not." . But Peter, who upon the report of
Mary Magdalene had been at the sepulchre, had entered into it, and
with a curiosity that bespoke an expectation of Something extraordi-.
nary, and a desire of being satisfied, had observed that the linen
clothes in which Christ was buried, and the napkin which was about
his head, were not only left in the sepulchre, but carefully wrapped
up and laid in several places ; and who from thence might begin to
suspect what his companion St. John from those very ckcumstances
seems to have believed : Peter, I say, hearing from Joanna that she
had seen a vision of aogels at the sepulchre, who had assured her that
Christ was risen, starting up, ran thither immediately, and knowing
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204 BIVINB AUTHORITY AND
ihat the angds, if they were within the sepulchre, might be diacorer-
ed without his going in, he did not, as before, enter in, but stooping
down looked so far in as to see the ** linen clothes, and departed,
wondering in himself at that which was come, to pass/' And either
with Peter, or about that time, went some other disciples who were
present when Joanna and the other women made their report, *' and
found it even so as the women had said. The same d^ two of the
disciples went to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem
about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all those thing*
which had happened. And it came to pa^ that while they com-
muned together and reasoned, Jemis himself drew near, and went
with them. But their eyes were holden, that they should not know
him. And he said unto them^ What manner -of communications [[ar-
guments] are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk and are
sad? And one of them, whose name was Gleopas, answering, said
unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known
the things which are come to pass there in these days ? And he said
unto them. What things ? And they said unto him, Concerning Je-
sus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word be-
fore God and all the people ; and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Isra-
el ; and beside all this, to-day is the third day since ihese things were
done. .Yea, and certain women also of our company made us aston-
ished, which were early at the sepulchxe ; and when they found not
his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of
angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which
were with us, went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the wo-
men had said ;' but him they saw not Then he said unto them, O
fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken !
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his
glory ? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself. And
they drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made as
though he would have gone farther. But they constrained him, say-
ing, Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and ihe day is far spent
And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it, and brake and gave
to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him ; and he
vanished out of their sight And they said one to another, did not
our hearts bum within us, while he talked with us by the way, and
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 805
while he opened to us the Scriptures ? And they rose up the same
hour, and returned to Jerusalem^ and found the eleven ga^ered toge-
ther, and them that were with them» saying, The Lord is risen in-
deed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were
done in the way, and, how he was known of them in breaking of
bread."
This is the order in which the several incidents above related ap*
pear to have arisen ; the conformity of which, with the words of the
evangelists, interpreted in their obvious and most natural sense, I have
shown in my remarks upon the passages wherein they are contained.
By this order, all the different events naturally and easily follow, and
as it were rise out of one another, and the narration of the evangelists
is cleared from all confusion and inconsistencies."
2d. Let Tis now consider the way in which the Jewish rulers ac-
count for the fkct that the body of Jesus was missing, and could
not be produced by them. They say that his disciples came by
night and stole it away, while the soldiers slept ; and their statement
was corroborated by the declaration of the soldiers themselves.
At first sight, this mode of accounting for the- disappearance of the
dead body seems somewhat plausible ; but a close examination of it
will show that is attended with certain insuperable difficulties. Had
this statement been truQ, Matthew would not have dared to have pub-
lished in Judea, so soon afbr the event as he did, that the chief priests
bribed the soldiers to propagate it, for this would have exposed him
to their indignation, and to punishment. And it is worthy of remark,
that Matthew, while he faithfully records the report, does not, say a
syllable to refute it ; but leaves the falsity to be manifested by well
known facts. If this theft had been perpetrated, there would have
been no time to have taken off the bandages, nor io have wrapp^ up
the napkin, and to have laid it in a place by itself, separate from the
other linen, which circumstances, as they are related in the narrative,
clearly indicate that there had been no indecent haste.
Besides, the disciples were few in number ; they were friendless,
and they were much discouraged. They were not only aware that a
Roman guard was placed at the sepnlc&re, but they were fearful of
being apprehended, and put to death as the followers of Christ; and
they had concealed themselves in a solitary chamber under the appre-
hension of being crucified or stoned. For to suppose that such men,
in such circumstances, would attempt such an enterprize as the thef^
of the body, and in defiance of the power and authority of Pilate, and
the Jewish sanhedrim, is to suppose that they were bereft of their
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reason. And had they made the attemptt their success would hare
been a moral impossibility. The time was the most inauspicious for
such an enterprize that could well be imagined ; it was during the great
annual festival, the passover, when Jerusalem was crowded with peo-
ple from every quarter. On such occasions there were present in the
city and suburbs, probably more than a million of people, and as Jesus
and his disciples had done, many of them, no doubt, spent the night in
the open air. Then, it was the time of the full moon, so that they could
not have been concealed by the darkness. The sepulchre also was
just without the walls of the city, consequently exposed to continual
inspection. These difficulties seem to render the account of the Jew-
ish rulers utterly incredible. Again, be it observed, these very men,
and when their Master was in life, and present with them, through
fear of them who were sent to apprehend Jesus, forsook him and fled.
Is it to be supposed, that in their present forlorn and friendless con-
dition, undisciplined and unarmed as they were, they would attempt,
under the very walls of Jerusalem, and with Pilate and all his sol-
diers in their immediate vicinity, to attack a large band of armed
men, for the purpose of removing the body of Jesus ? And, pray,
what could they promise themselves would be the result of such an
attempt? Nothing but death, as rebels against the Roman govern-
ment. Or should they escape from the hands of the Roman soldiers,
they could promise themselves only a still more frightful death at the
hands of the infuriated populace, who would be exasperated beyond
measure, upon discovering that a dead malefactor was to have been
palmed upon them, as that illustrious personage, for whose appearance
among them they had so long and anxiously waited. So that nothing
is more unreasonable than to suppose the disciples should harbor the
thought of making any such attempt.
If the attempt had been made, its success was a moral impossibility.
For as Pilate permitted the chief priests and Pharisees to secure the
sepulchre, they would be careful that it was completely so ; therefore
the guard must have been numerous. Be it remarked, these soldiers
could not have been ignorant of the strange purpose for which they
were stationed at the sepulchre ; they must have been well aware, that
ftieit duty was to watch whether a dead man would come to Kfe^ and
come forth from the sepulchre in which he had been laid. Therefore,
when the workings of superstition in relation to the reappearance of
the dead are considered, and the thrilling curiosity which the pecu-
liar duty imposed upon these soldiers must have excited, it is not
to be supposed, that even a single individual among them, on so ex-
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citing an occasion, should have been so incautions as to have fallen
asleep ; and much more unreasonable is it to suppose that the whole
company of them should with one accord have been seized with this
inopportune somnolency. The story, therefore, begins to look very
suspicious. But there are other difficulties equally insurmountable.
The body of Jesus was not as dead persons are wiUi us, deposited in
a mere grave filled with soft and yielding mould, which could be
opened without any great noise. But it was laid in a sepulchre
hewn out in a rock, and secured by a great stone, with which its
mouth was closed. Therefore in order to reach the body, the disci-
ples would have to remove that stone ; and this they could not do
without causing c6nsiderable noise. Moreover, from the appearance
of composure and regularity found in the empty tomb, if the body
was stolen, the thieves must have been for some time in the sepul*
chre. Now according to the Jewish account, all of these Roman
soldiers were in so sound and deep a sleep, that although the rumb-
ling noise of a huge stone, violently put in motion, was sounding in
their ears, and although the bustle of adjusting the grave clothes, and
removing the dead body was going on in their very midsU not one of
them was awakened, but they slept on so long after the event that it
was impossible by the light of the moon, which then shone, to dis-
cover and detect the thieves. The story now looks still more suspi-
cious, for it involves facts which are enough to stagger the most
determined credulity. But there were other difficulties equally in-
superable. Roman* soldiers were accustomed to watching, and the
discipline in the Roman army was exceedingly severe. Death was
the punishment of a Roman soldier who went to sleep while upon
guard. Is.it to be supposed, that all these soldiers, well knowing that
if through their carelessness a theft should be committed, both Pilate
and the Jewish rulers would be exceedingly provoked, with death
before their eyes as the penalt} , should one and all, and on so exci-
ting an occasion, fall s6und asleep ? But another difficulty here pre-
sents itself. If these soldiers were all sound asleep, how did they, or
how could they, know that the body was stolen ? And yet another
difficulty arises. Why did not the Jewish sanhedrim cause Pilate to
put these soldiers to the question, and have them punished t If the
body was really stolen they must have been eager tp wreak their ven-
geance upon the culprits. And if the thought' did not at that time
suggest itself to them, why did they not do this a few weeks after-
wards, when they found all Jerusalem inclined to believe in that cru-
cified man, and when thousands of persons already believed on him T
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Why did they not imprison the apostles and Joseph of Aremadieft,
till they made them confess what was become of the body, and all the
other circumstances of their imposture ? But no such course was pnr>
sued by them ; and as to the soldiers, instead of being put to death for a
flagrant infringement of military discipline, they are permitted to go at
large, as if they had committed no offence whatsoever. And is it not
Tery remarkable, that the disciples, on the supposition they had sto*
len the body, should immediately afterwards have publicly appeared
at Jerusalem, proclaiming themselves as the disciples of Jesus ; ac-
cusing the chief priests as his slayers and murderers ; and to their
f^es asserting that he had risen from the dead ? When that accusa-
tion was made, why did not tlie sanhedrim, who were so ready to
menace the aposdes with torments and persecutions, if they persisted
in preaching Christ, publicly accuse them with having stolen the bo*
dy of theur master while the guard slept ? Why, instead of conn
manding them not to teach in the name of Jesus, did they not con*
front the apostles with the guards? But upon this investigation
they did not enter; and the only reason that can be assigned iSf
that they well knew w?uU the soldiers had told thenh and it was this
which filled them with apprehension.
The conduct of the sanhedrim implies, that they themselves were
consciotis that Jtsus had risen from the dead. This is evident from the
charge they bring against the aposdes : «* Behold, ye have filled Jera-
salem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this mairCs blood upon
ta." t That is, ye intend to bring upon us the guilt of shedding the
blood of Jesus, for this is the only meaning of such phraseology in the
Scriptures. We are told that when Pilate saw that he could prevail
nothing towards releasing Christ, he took water and washed his
Sands before the multitude^ eaying^ I am innocent of the blood of
this jxMt person^ see ye to it ; and that then all the people answered
and said, IRs blood be on usy and on our children* To this, the
sanhedrim evidently referred. If Jesus Christ was an impostor, the
guilt of shedding his bleed could not rest upon their heads, as they
well knew. Therefore, if they had not been conscious that he had
risen from the dead, they could not have used this' phraseology. Let
any one of common intelligence put all these circumstances together,
and he must at once perceive that the Jewish story concerning the
missing body of Jesus Christ, wears suspicion and fraud upon its iaoe ;
it hangs so badly together, that in no court of law could it be ad-
' • Acts V. 30. t Acts T. 38.
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mitted at affording ^ufficieht groand, upon which to huild a de<
eision.
We now hare before us, the accounts respectively given hy the
disciples of Christ and the Jewish rulers, and out of these we musi
make our choice. If we prefer that of the Jewish rulers, we must
take it as it is, accompanied with many and insuperable difficulties.
If we adopt that of the disciples, we must acknowledge that Jesus
Christ rose from the dead, and by consequence that he is the Son of
God, and the Bible is a Revelation from God. For his resurreclioa
asserts his own divine mission, and he has given his testimony to the
divine mission of Moses and the prophets.
But the adversaries object, that the Christian account of the resur-
rection is unworthy of credit, because Jesus did show himself to the
chief priests and the Jews. Mr. Olmsted says, **Let us suppose
some man now to appear among us, who was born long before Jesus
is said to have lived ; let us suppose him to have been. a great travel*
er and to have visited Judea, some three or four years previous to
the commencement of Christ's ministry ; and again, a few days after
the great day of pentecost. Let his journal read as follows : < Visit-
td JudesH— its inhabitants Jews, Romans, Grecians, &c., all devoted
tenaciously to their respective religions.' Some fifty or sixty page«
after this, we find the following: « Visited Judea again, found aU its
inhabitants had abandoned their former religions, and had adopted a
new one, the founder of which was one Jesus, who, these people all
agreed, had declared himself a prophet and a son of God, had been
crucified on a charge of sedition, had risen from the dead, and as-
aended to heaven, which ascension was in mid-day, and which was
seen, as all these people declared, by the whole of them; that while
in the air, so as to be seen by all the people, he uttered in a voice, so
loud as to be heard by all the people, < I am the son of God ; keep
this day holy until the end of the world, by meeting together and eat<
ing bread and drinking wine, and be baptized also in commemoration
of my burial and resurrection ;' as all these people make the same
declaration' and are living in obedience to this injunction, I am con-
vinced that the fact was as they report it' "
To this it is replied, that if Jesus Christ had appeared to the diief
priests and Pharisees, who had long been plotting his death*, fhe invet*
erate malice which they fek towards him had so filled their minds
with prejudice, that it is not at all probable, they would have submil*
ted to the testimony. They had ahready attributed his miracles to
the power of the devil ; and his resurrecti<m of Lazarus from the
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too DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
dead, of which they had tfie fullest information, only ttinndated them
to hasten his death. Instead of submitting to the eiidence of the
soldiers, they endeavored to suppress it And had he showed him-
self to them after his resurrection, they no doubt would have repre-
sented that it was a spectre, or a delusion, wrought by satanic influ-
ence. But, suppose that he had appeared to them, and had publicly
ascended to heaven in the presence of all the people, and that thereby
the whole Jewish niation were brought to submit to the testimony,
and acknowledged him to be the Messiah, would Mr. Olmsted and
his fellow Infidels have been satisfied? On the other hand, is it not
most manifest that these very circumstances would have been seized
lipon, and the assertion made, that the chief priests and rulers, influ-
enced by political motives, had resorted to a stale trick for the promo*
tion of some selfish and ambitious project ? Or if it were conceded
that the trick was not performed by the chief men of the nation,
wou)4 not Infidels in our days have urged that these men, under flie
belief that they had slain the Son of God, being conscience stricken,
imagined they were haunted with ghosts and sprites ?
Such testimony as this could have exercised no infldence upon the
other nations, who were their contemporaries, and must have died
with themselves. Then also, Christianity would have been repre-
sented as a contrivance of the priests and chief men of Judea to an-
swer their own selfish ends, and its progress would have been attribu-
ted to the secular influence of its advocates. Thereby, as Mr. Home
judiciously observes, ** It would have been deprived of that most
distinguishing, «nd satisfactory evidence, which it now possesses,
that it derived its origin from Gk>d, and owed its success to a signal
interposition of divine power. But the inveterate opposition of the
Jewish priests and rulers to the cause, and their violent persecutions
of the Christians, removed all suspicion of priestcraA and political
design." The truth then, is, we have much more satisfactory testi-
mony that Christ rose from the dead, than that which Mr. Olmsted
and Infidels of his class seem to intimate would satisfy them. For,
from the age of the apostles down to the present time, ordinances, in
certain respects analogous with our celebration of American inde-
pendence, have been observed as commemorative of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, and
during the age of the apostles, there is every reason to believe that
these ordinances were observed by tens of thousands of persons, who
possessed equal facilities of informing themselves wheflier the facts
eOTmiemorated did take place, as the men of the present day have
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTUBBS. 801
of infonning themselves whether American independence was really
proclaimed.
Bat if the Infidel still object, and maintain that the disciples
of Jesus Christ advanced a positive falsehood concerning his resur-
rection, how will he account for the fact that those men, who were
recently terrified, one into a denial of his Master, and the rest into a
cowardly abandonment of him^ suddenly came forward in the face
of the whole nation, and of their rulers, with the greatest firmness,
and undaunted boldness, and at all times and oh all occasions mutual-
ly consistent? How will he account for the fact that before the peo-
ple, yea, before the very council who condemned their Master to
death, with astonishing steadiness and resolution they declared what
they themselves were conscious was a falsehood ? Besides, the se-
cret was not confined to a few ; upwards of five hundred persons are
stated to have seen him after his resurrection, of whom the greater
part, says the apostle, when he wrote, remain to this time. How
will the Infidel account for the fact that all these five hundred per-
sons, to the very last, persisted in asserting, that with their own eyes
they had seen Christ after his pretended resurrection? Will he ex-
plain how it happened that out of this multitude of males and females
apostles, and disciple^, not one. of them ever came forward and ac*
knowledged the practice of an imposture? Will he explain the
strange pertenacity of these people in maintaining, and publishing a
known falsehood, and that to establish a religion which, as they well
knew, exposed them to hatred, contempt, persecution, imprisonment,
and death? Will he show upon what principles of human action
these persons were so enamored with what they themselves knew
was a gross fabrication of their own, that they were ready to sacrifice
every thing, even life itself, for the pleasure of making the world be-
lieve a groundless falsehood ? And when he has satisfactorily solved
all these difficulties, then the Infidel is bound to show on satisfactory
testimony, moral and historical, how all the circumstances, in their
minutest details, attending the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus
Christ happened to have been predicted by many difierent individuals,
who lived in difierent ages of the world. All this those men are
bound to do, who deny that Jesus Christ rose firom the dead.
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im DIVINE AUTHORITT AND
CHAPTER VIL
DIVINE AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.
Having considered the proof of the divine authority of the Old
^d New Testament Scriptares, derived from the miracles which
were wrought by the founders of the dispensations contained in Ihem,
In attestation of the truth of their divine mission, we now proceed
to consider the second great branch of the same proof, that from pro*
phecy.
Prophecy is a miracle of knowledge, a declaration, a description^
a representation of something future, beyond the power of human
sagacity to discover or to calculate, and it is the highest evidence that
can be given of supernatural communion with G^od, and of the truth
of divine revelation.
«< No argument," says Mr. Watson, ** a priori against the possibil-
ity of prophecy can be attempted by any one who believes in the
existence and infinitely perfect nature of God. The Infidel author of
*« The Moral Philosopher," indeed, rather insinuates than attempts
folly to establish a dilemma with which to perplex those who regard
prophecy as one of the proofis of a divine revelation. He thinks
that either prophecy must respect events necessary, as depending
upon necessary causes, which might be certainly foreknown and pre-
dicted; or that, if human actions are free, and effects contingent, the
possibility of prophecy must be given up, as it implies foreknow*
ledge, which, if granted, would render them necessary. The first
part of this objection might be allowed, were there no predictions to
be adduced in favor of a professed revelation, except such as related
to events which human experience has taught to be dependent upon
some cause, the existence and necessary operation of which are
within the compass of human knowledge. But to foretell such events
would not be to prophesy, any more than to say that it will be light
to-morrow at noon, or that on a certain day and hour next year there
will occur an eclipse of the sun or moon, when that event had been
previously ascertained by astronomical calculation. If, however, it
were allowed that all events depended upon a chain of necessary
causes, yet in a variety of instances, the argument from prophecy
would not be at all affected ; for the foretelling of necessary results in
certain circumstances is beyond human intelligence, because they can
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 90S
only be known to him by whose power those necessary causes on
which they depend have been arranged, and who has prescribed the
times of their operation. To borrow a case, for the sake of iUostra-
tration, from the Scriptures, though the claims of their predictions
are now in question ; let us aUow that such a prophecy as that of
Isaiah respecting the taking of Babylon by Cyrus was uttered, as
it purports to be, more than a century before Cyrus was bom, and
that all the actions of Cyrus and his army, and ^ose of th& Babylo-
nian monarch and his people, were necessitated; is it to be main-
tained that the chain of necessitating causes running through more
than a century could be traced by a human mind, so as to describe
the precise manner in which that fatality would unfold itself, even to
the turning of the river, the drunken carousal of the inhabitants, and
the neglect of shutting the gates of the city ? This being by uni-
form and universal experience known to be above all human appre-
hension, would therefore prove that the prediction was made in con-
sequence of a communication fron^ a superior and divine InteUigence.
Were events, therefore, subjected to invincible fate and necessity,
there might nevertheless be prophecy.
The other branch of the dilemma is founded on the notion, that if
we allow the moral freedom of human actions, prophecy is impossible,
because certain foreknowledge is contrary to that freedom, and fixes
and renders the event necessary. To this the reply is, that the ol^
jection is founded on a false assumption, the divine foreknowledge
having no more influence in effectuating or making certain any event
than hdman foreknowledge in the degree in which it may exist, there
being no moral causality at all in knowledge. This lies in the will,
which is the determining acting principle in every agent; or, as
Dr. Samuel Clarke has expressed it, in answer to another kind of
objector, * God's infallible judgment concerning contingent truths
does no more alter the nature of the things, and cause them to be
necessary, than our judging right at any time concerning a contingent
truth makes it cease to be contingent ; or than our science of a present
truth is any cause of its being either true or present. Here, therefore,
lies the fallacy of our author's argument. Because, from God's fore-
knowing the existence of things depending upon a chain of neces-
sary causes, it follows that the existence of the things must needs be
necessary ; therefore, from God's judging infallibly concerning things
which depend not on necessary but free causes, he concludes that
these things also depend not upon free but necessary causes. Con-
trary, I say, to the supposition in the argument ; fof it must not be
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304 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
first mpposed that things are in their own nature necessary ; hot from
the power of judging infiallibly concerning free events, it must be
proved that things, odierwise supposed free, will thereby unavoidably
become necessary/ The whole question lies in this. Is the simple
knowledge of an action a necessitating cause of the action T And the
answer must be in the negative, as every man*s consciousness will
assure him. If the causality of influence, either immediate, or by the
arrangement of compelling events, be mixed up with this, the ground
is shifted; and it is no longer a question which respects simple
prescienoe. This metaphysical objection having no foundation in
truth, the force of the evidence arising from predictions of events,
distant, and beyond the power of human sagacity to anticipate, and
uttered as authentications of a divine commission, is apparent ' Such
predictions, whether in the form of declaration, description, or rep*
revntation of things future,' as Mr. Boyle justly observes, *are
supernatural things, and may properly be ranked among miracles.'
For when, for instance, the events are distant many years or ages
from the uttering of the prediction itself, depending on causes not
so much as existing when the prophecy was spoken and recorded,
and likewise upon various circumstances and a long arbitrary series
of things, and the fluctuating uncertainties of human volitions, and
especially when they depend not at all upon any external circumstan-
ces, nor upon any created being, but arise merely from the counsels
and appointment of God himself, — such events can be foreknown
only by that Being, one of whose attributes is omniscience, and can
be foretold by him only to whom the * Father of lights ' shall reveal
them ; so that whoever is manifestly endued with that predictive
power must, in that instance, speak and act by divine inspiration, and
what he pronounces of that kind must be received as the word of
God ; nothing more being necessary to assure us of this than credible
testimony that such predictions were uttered before the event, or con*
dusive evidence that the records which contain them are of the anti-
quity to which they pretend." *
As there are various criteria by which the impartial enquirer can
distinguish between true and fklse miracles ; so it is equally easy to
distinguish between true and false prophecies. When we meet with
a prophecy, the object of which is to satisfy curiosity, or to aid the
designs of ambition, suspicion must necessarily be excited. This
was evidently the character of the heathen oracles. They spoke as
• Wttson's Thetdogical Diotionaiy, pp. 781, 788.
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they were paid or intimidated, and the ohject of the priests was to
gain credit for their idols, or profit for themselve, hy foretelling things
to come. " How," says Mr. Nares, ** did they conduct this difficult
traffic? Did they make it hazardous as well as difficult, by pledging
their lives on the truth of their predictions ? Far otherwise. They
had different arts and plans, much more compatible with the con-
sciousness of being extremely liable to err. In the first place, unless
a direct appeal to their inspiration was made by direct enquiry, they
usually observed a prudent silence. They uttered no spontaneous pro-
phecies.
In saying nothing, they exposed themselves to no detection, and
when they were obliged to speak, it was always with sufficient pre-
caution. Obstacles were first thrown in the way of enquiry. By mag-
nificent and repeated sacrifices, it was rendered extremely expensive.
This preliminary had a double advantage ; it lessened the number of
enquirers, and at the same time secured abundant advantage to the
priests. These sacrifices were preceded, attended, and followed by
many prescribed ceremonies, the omission or mismanagement of any
one of which was sufficient to vitiate the whole proceeding. The
gods were not at all times in a humor to be consulted. Omens were
to be taken, and augeries examined, which if unfavorable in any par-
ticular, either precluded the enquiry for the present, or required fur-
ther lustrations, ceremonies, and sacrifices, to purify the person who
consulted, and render him fit to receive an answer from the gods, or
to bring their magical deities to a temper suitable to the enquiry."
When answers were given, they were destitute of dignity, and im-
portance ; they had no. connection without each other ; they tended to
no object of general concern, and they never looked into times remote
from their own.
The writings of the ancient heathens which are preserved, contain
but a few predictions and prognostications ; most of them are not only
very poorly authenticated, but they appear to be answers to questions
of merely local, personal, and temporary concern, relating to affairs
then in progress, or to events speedily to be determined. They never
pretended to deliver any chain of predictions respecting things far in
futurity, or relating to events that were contrary to human probability,
and requiring supernatural agency to effect them. In a word, the
heathen soothsayers had no systematic and connected plan, and in all
their answers they evince a consciousness of their inability to venture
beyond the depths of human conjecture, so that they soon fell into dis-
repute and almost total oblivion. Their answers were also firequendy
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806 BIVINB AUTHORITY AND
detnrive and capable of contrary interpretationa. Of this ambigniQr
several instances are recorded. When Croesus consulted the oracle at
Delphi rdatiye to his intended war against the Persians, he was told
^at he would destroy a great empire. This he naturally interpreted
of his overcoming the Persians, though the oracle was so framed as
to admit of an opposite meaning. Croesus made war against the Pef-
sians and was ruined ; and the oracle continued to maintain its credit.
The answer given to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, many ages after, was
yet of more doubtful interpretation, being conceived in such ambigu-
ous terms, that it might either be interpreted, I say that thou, ton of
JEaetis, can'at conquer the Fomans. Thou ihali go; thou ehaU re-
turn; never shalt thou perish in war. Or it might be interpretedt
lioy that the Romans can conquer thee, son of JEaeus; thou shaU
go ; thou shalt never return; thou shalt perish in war. Pjrrrhus un-
derstood the oracle in the former sense ; he waged an unsuccessful
war with the Romans and was overcome ; yet still the juggling oracle
saved its credit
When Alexander fell sick at Babylon, some of his courtiers, who
happened to be in Eg3rpt, or who went thither on purpose, passed
the night in the temple of Serapis, to enquire whether it would not
be proper to bring Alexander to be cured by him. The god answered,
it was better that Alexander' should remain where he was; which, in
all events, was a very prudent and safe answer. If the king recover-
ed his health, what glory must Serapis have gained by saving him
the fatigue of the journey ! If he died, it was but saying he died in a
favorable juncture after so many conquests ; which, had he lived, he
could neither have enlarged nor preserved. And this was the con-
struction which was actually put upon the response ; whereas, had
Alexander undertaken the journey and died in the temple, or on the
way, nothing could have been said in favor of Serapis. When Trajan
had formed the design of his expedition against the Parthians, he was
advised to consult the oracle of Heliopolis, to which he had no more
to do but to send a note under a seal. That prince, who had no great
faith in oracles, sent thither a blank note, and they returned him an-
other of the same kind. By this Trajan was convinced of the divini-
ty of the oracle. He sent back a second note to the god, in which he
enquired whether he should return to Rome after finishing the war he
had in view. The god, as M acrobius tells the story, ordered a vine,
which was among the ofierings of his temple, to be divided into
pieces and brought to Trajan. The event justified the orade ; for the
emperor dying in that war, his bones were carried to Rome, whi<^
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 307
hid been represented by that broken vine. As the priests of that or-
acle knew Trajan's design, which was no secret, they happily devis-
ed that response which, in all events, was capable of a favorable inter-
pretation, whether he routed and cut the Parthians in pieces, or if his
army 'met with the same fate. Sometimes the responses of the ora-
cles was mere banter, as in the case of the man who wished to know
by what means he might become rich, and received for answer from the
god, that he had only to make himself master of all that lay between
Sicyone and Corinth. Another, wanting a cure for the gout, was an-
swered by the oracle, that he was to drink nothing but cold water.
Before responses were delivered, the priestess of the oracle at Del-
phos was compelled to fast three days, to bathe in the fountain of
Castalia, (o drink copiously of the water, to shake the laurel tree that
grew on its brink, and to chew some of its leaves. When she had
passed through the preparatory ceremonies, and had inhaled the cele-
brated vapor over which her tripod was placed, her gestures and sen-
sations amounted to absolute madness. A trembling shook her whole
frame, her looks were wild and distracted, she foamed at the mouth,
her hair became erect, her shrieks and bowlings filled the temple.
During these fearful agitations, at certain intervals, unconnected words
fell from her lips. These were carefully collected by the priests,
who surrounded her, and from them the oracle was framed ; and this
distraction and this vehemence characterized all the heathen oracles.
The responses of the heathen oracles were delivered in secret and
obscure places, in by-ways, in dark caverns, and from the inmost re-
cesses of temples. All was as mysterious and blind as possible.
Pausanias, who consulted in person the oracle of Trophonius, afler a
long description of the ablutions and ceremonies previously required,
represents at large the circumstances in which he was placed. He
speaks of the visible and outward cave, not as a natural cavity, but as
** built with the nicest mechanism and perfection.*' The entrance of
this cave has no steps, but the person who wishes to consult the ora-
cle must provide himself with a light and narrow ladder ; and having
descended this external cave, which may be considered as a porch to
the oracle, the cave itself of Trophonius is situated ** between the roof
and the pavement" *'At the mouth of this, the descendant having
brought with him cakes dipped in honey, lies along on the ground
and shoves himself, feet foremost, into the cave. Then he thrusts
in his knees, after which the rest of his body is rolled along by
a force not unlike that of a great and rapid river, which, overpow-
ering a man with its vortex, tumbles him over head and ears. All
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308 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
that come within the approach of the oracle, have not their answeis
revealed the same way. Some gather their resolves by outward ap-
pearances, others by word of mouth. They all retam the same way
back, with their feet foremost.^* None ever lost their lives in this
cavern, except one m^, who meant to rob the sanctuary of the wealth
deposited there by the superstitious. ** This," sa3rs CoUyer, to whom
we are indebted for the substance of the immediately preceding re*
marks, ** is the testimony of Pausanias, and it is sufficiently explicil
to discover how much of chicanery might be practised in a place so
constructed, upon those who, being prepared for something supernat-
ural, require very little to strengthen the delusion, which their imag-
ination was of itself ready to impose upon their senses." *
Some have attributed the responses of the heathen oracles to the in-
tervention of the devil ; but it is evident, from the authority of the
wisest and the best of the heathens themselves, as well as from the
nature of the thing itself, that they were all mere impostures, invented
and supported to impose upon the credulity and superstition of man-
kind. Dr. Middleton alleges that Cicero, speaking of the Delphic
oracle, the most revered of any in the heathen world, dedares that
nothing was become more contemptible, not only in his days, but long
before him ; that Demosthenes, who lived about three hundred years
earlier, affirms of the same oracle, in a public speech at Athens, that
it was gained to the interests of king Philip, an enemy to that city ;
that the Greek historians tell us how, on «everal occasions, it had been
corrupted by money, to serve the views of particular persons and par-
ties, and the prophetess sometimes had been deposed for bribery and
lewdness.
How very different from the pretended predictions of the heathen
oracles, are the prophecieis contained in the Scriptures ; they consti-
tnte a series of predictions relating principally to one great object, of
universal importance, the work of man's redemption ; and carried on
in regular progression, through the Patriarchal, Jewish, and Christ-
ian dispensations, with a harmony and uniformity of design, which
clearly indicate one and the same author. Then they were delivered,
without solicitation, and pronounced in the most public manner : the
prophet himself knew that if any of his predictions should be over-
thrown, according to the law he would be exposed to capital punish-
ment The events they foretold were often remote, and their accom-
plishment dependmg on the arbitrary will of many, and on the
* CoUjePs Lectares, vol L pp. 35, 36.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURBS. 309
working of a vast Tariety of causes. Some of them related to
events which should transpire shortly after they were delivered;
other events still later, but which occurred during the life time of
the prophet by whom they were delivered ; while others extended
far beyond the age in which the prophet lived. But all the differ-
ent events predicted by him were connected together. The pre^
dictions imputed contingencies, which the powers of man never
could conjecture or effect, and their fulfillment furnishes a moral de-
monstration that the persons by whom they were delivered, were
favored with supernatural communion with God, and that they
were his accredited servants, for the instruction of mankind. More-
over they are all so disposed as to form a regular system, all the parts
of which harmonize in one unvar3ring and consistent plan, which runs
parallel with the history of the human race, present, past and to come;
nor is the language so obscure as the enemies represent. It is true
there is a prophetic language of symbol and emblem, yet it is definite
and unequivocal in its meaning, and is as easily mastered as the lan-
guage of poetry, by attentive persons. But this kind of language is
not always used ; for, as will shortly be seen, in very many instances
it sinks into the plainness of historical narrative. The prophesies of
the Scriptures may be referred to four classes — Prophesies relating to
the Jewish nation in particular — Prophesies relating to the neighbor-
ing nations or empires — Prophesies directly concerning the Mea-
siah> and Prophesies delivered by Jesus Christ and his apostles.
Mr. Paine says : ** If by a prophet we are to suppose a man to
whom the Almighty communicated some events that would take place
in future, either there were such men or there were not If there
were, it is consistent to believe that the event so communicated would
be told in terms that could be understood." Our object is not to treat
on the subject of prophecy at large, but to shew that there were such
men, because the events communicated to them were told in terms not
only easy to be understood, but impossible to be misapprehended, and
because the events were too wonderful for the powers of man to con-
jecture or to effect. And those which shall be given, are of such a
character, that every reader, by comparing the predictions with the re-
spective events, will readily perceive that the prophets of Israel, in-
stead of being '* impostors and liars, and their writings bombastical
rants," as they have beeir stigmatized by the enemies of Revelation,
were the accredited servants of the Most High, and that words could
not have a clearer meaning or a more precise application than these
prophecies, the truth of whose fulfiUment shall be exhibited.
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910 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
Mr. Olmsted on the subject of prophecy, says : << First prove your
fact, if you can, by legitimate testimony, the only testimony by which
a fact can be proved — ^namely, by that of witnesses who saw it, or
other facts inconsistent with the now happening of the fact in ques-
tion. And when you have thus proved your fact, we will believe thai
he who foretold it, is a prophet inspired of God. This is good lo-
gic, and the principle established by this argument is, that a predic-
rove a fact, but the fact may prove the inspiration of the
Ye rejoice to meet Mr. Olmsted upon the ground pro-
U and agreeably to his proposition will state a prophecy,
^e the fact of its accomplishment by witnesses who saw
wts inconsistent with the now happening of the fact in
ich, it is cheerfully admitted, is the only testimony by
it can be proved. And out of almost innumerable exam-
first select the prophecy relating to the destruction of the
ty of Tyre. And this selection is made, because, to
ct, a witness can be introduced against whose veracity
)lmsted nor any other Infidel will object, as he has long
been the object of their admiration, and one of the most able cham*
(ions of their cause. Here is the prophecy, delivered by Ezekiel,
and contained in chap, xxvi of his prophecies :
« And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the
month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying : Son of man,
because that Tyrus hath said against. Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken
that was the gates of the people : she is turned unto me : I shall be
replenished, now she is laid waste: therefore thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many na-
tions to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come
up : and they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her
towers : I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the
top of a rock : it shall be a pbce for the spreading of nets in the
midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it
shall become a spoil to the nations : and her daughters which are in
the field shall be skin by the sword ; and they shall know that I am
the Lord.
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyros
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings from the north,
with horses and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies,
and much people : he shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the
field : and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against
thee, and lift up the buckler against thee : and he shall set engines of
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INSPIRATION OF THB SCRIPTURES. aH
war agdnst thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy tow-
ers : by reason of the abundence of his horses their dust shall cover
thee : thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the
wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as
men enter into a city wherein is made a breach : with the hoofs of
his horses shall be tread down all thy streets : he shall slay thy peo*
pie by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the
ground : and they shall make a ^poil of thy riches, and make a pr^
of thy merchandize : and they shall break down thy walls, and de-
stroy thy pleasant houses : and they shall lay thy stones and thy tim-
ber and thy dust in the miisi of the water : and I w31 cause the noise
of thy songs to cease ; and Ihe sound of thy harps shall be no more
heard : and I will make thee like the top of a rock : thou shalt be a
place to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord
have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus, Shall not the isles shake at the
sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is msde
in the midst of thee T Then all the princes of the sea shall come down
from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broid-
ered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they
shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be
aetonished at thee : and they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and
say to thee. How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of sea-faring
men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her in-
habitants, which cause their terror to be cm all that haunt it : now shall
the isles tremble in the day of thy fall ; yea, the isles that are in the
sea shall be troubled at thy departure : for thus saith the Lord God,
When I shall make a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabitp
ed ; when I shaU bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall
cover thee : when I shall bring thee dowti with them that descend in-
to the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low
parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down
to the pit, that thou be not inhabited ; and I shall set glory in the land
of the living; I wiU make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more :
though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again,
fliith the Lord God."
Having stated the prophecy, we now proceed to prove the fiict by
witnesses who saw it, or other facts inconsistent with the now hap-
pening of the fact in question. The first witness we will introduce,
as already stated, with all Infidels is unexceptionable, being none other
than the celebrated Volney, who is well known as a zealous partizan
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818 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
and sncceflsfbl promoter of Infidelity. Mr. Yolney traveled in Sy-
ria and Egypt towards the close of the last century. His work, which
wai published in this country in A. D. 1708, by the Edinburgh Re-
Tiew is characterized as a treatise on the country which he visited;
an admirable book, and of extraordinary merit. Malte Brun's Geo^
raphy contains the following high comj^iment upon his work :
<' The countries belonging to Asiatic Turkey, which remain to be de-
scribed, have so frequently attracted the attention of travelers, that a
large library might be formed of the accounts of those which have
been published. Two or three Volumes could scarce contain the
names of the pflgrims who have left joumab of their travefs in the
Holy Land ; works full of repetition and purility, yet claiming the
examination of the enlightened critic. Fom these, compared with
the writings of Abulfeda and Josephus, the learned Basching has
formed an excellent geographical treatise. In modem times we have
judicious missionaries, such as Dandini ; antiquaries, as Wood ; and
naturalists, as Mauodrel and Hasselquist, who have ably elucidated
particular parts of these countries. It was reserved for the genhts
of Volney to combine their detached accounts with the frtnts of his
oum observations and study ^ so as to present the world with a comr
pkte description of Syria" *
Nothing was further from the intention of Volney, than by his wri-
tings to confirm the truth of Scripture prophecy, therefore his testi-
mony, by the Infidel and alU others, cannot but be viewed as most
conclusive. We select from difierent portions of his woHl ihb fol-
lowing passages.
<* Six leagues to the south of Saide, following the ooast, we arrive
by a very level plain at the village of Sour. In this name we, with
difficulty, recognized that of 7)/re^ tOf which we receive from the
Latins ; but if we recollect that the y was formerly pronounced ou/
and observe, that the Latins have substituted the ^ for the > of the
Greeks, and that the ^ had the sound of the English thf in the word
thinkf we shall be less surprised at the alteration. This has not hap-
pened among the orientals, who have always called this plaee Tioitr
and Sour.
.The name of Tyre recalls to the memory of the historical reader
so many great events, and suggests so many reflections, that I think
I may be allowed to enter with some minuteness into the descriptioii
of a place, which was, in ancient times, the theatre of an immeniie
•Malte Bnm'f Geog. vd. iLp. 1S6.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SGBIPTUREa 818
commerce and navigation, the nune of arts and sciencea, and the city
of, perhaps, the most industrious and aotive people the world has yet
Soor is situated on a peninsula, which projects from the shore into
the sea in the form of a mallet with an oval head. This head is a
•olid rock, covered with a brown cnltivable earth, which forms a small
plain of about eight hundred paces long, by four hundred broad.
The isthmus, which joins this plain to the continent, is of pure sea
sand. This difference of soil renders the ancient insular state of the
plain, before Alexander joined it to the shore by a mole, very visible.
The sea, by covering this mole with sand, has enlarged it by succes-
sive accumulations, and formed the present isthmus. The village of
Sour is situated at the junction of this isthmus with the ancient island,
of which it does not cover above one-third. The point to the north
is occupied by a basin, which was a port evidently formed b
is at present so choaked up that children pass it withont J
above the middle. The opening at the point is defended by
ers, corresponding with each other, between which former!}^
chain fifty or sixty feet long, to shut the harbor. From the
began a line of walls, which, afier surrounding the basin, en<
whole island ; but at present we can only follow its traces by
dations which run along the shore, except in the vicinity of the port,
where the M otoualis made some repairs twenty yean ago, but these
are again fallen to decay.
Further on in the sea, to the north-west of the point, at the distance
of about three hundred paces, is a ridge of rocks on a level with the
water. The space which separates them from the main land in front,
forms a sort of road, where vessels may anchor with more safety
than at Saide ; they are not, however free from danger, for they are
exposed to the north-west winds, and the bottom injures the cables.
That part of the island which lies between the village and the sea, that
is, the western side, is open ; and this ground the inhabitants have laid
out in gardens; but such is their sloth, that they contain far more
weeds than useful plants. The south side, is sandy and covered with
rubbish. The whole village contains only fipy or Hxty poor fami-
lies^ which live obscurely on the produce of their little grounds^ and
a trifling fishery. The houses they occupy are no longer^ as in the
time of Strabo, edifices of three or four stories high, biU wretched
huts, ready to crumble to pieces.**
Again he says : <* We know that at the time when Nebuchodonoser
laid siege to it. Tyre was on the continent, and appears to have stood
8C 2
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814 DIVINB AUTHORITY ANt>
near Pahs' T^rtitf, that is, near the well ; but in that case« why wae iStuM
aqueduct constructed at so much expense firom the rook T Will it be
alleged it was built after the Tyrians had rerooTed into the island?
But prior to the time of Salmanasar, that is, one hundred and thirty-
six years before Nebuchodonosor, their annals mention it as already
existing. ' In the time of Eulul»us, king of Tjrre/ says the historian
Menanderj^ cited by Josephus, < Salmanasar, king of Assyria, hav-
ing carried the war into Phenicia, several towns submitted to his
arms: the T3nrians resisted him; but being soon abandoned by Sidon,
Acre, and Pals-T3nrus, which depended on them, they were reduced
to their own forces. However, they continued to defend themselves,
and Salmanasar, recalled to Ninevah, left a part of his army near the
rivulets and aqueduct, to cut off their supply of water. These ra>
mained there five years, during which time the T3rrians obtained
water by means of the wells they dug.'
If Fals-Tyrus was a dependence of Tyre, Tyre then must have
been situated elsewhere. It was not in the island, since the inhabit-
ants did not remove thither until afler Nebuchodonosor. Its orginal
situation must, therefore, have been on the rock. The name of this
city is a proof of it ; for TVour, in Phenician, signifies rock, and strong-
hold. On this rock the colony of Sidonians established themselves,
when driven from their country, two hundred and forty years before
the building of Solomon's Temple. T)iey made choice of this ntii-
ation, from the double advantage of a place which might be easily
defended, and the convenience of the adjacent road, which would con-
tain and cover a great number of vessels. The population of this
colony augmenting in time, and by the advantages of commerce, the
T3rrians were in want of more water, and constructed the aquedoct
The industry we find them remarkable for in the days of Sdomon,
may, perhaps, induce us to attribute^ this work to that age. It must,
however, be very ancient, since the water of the aqueduct has had time
to form, by filtration, a considerable incrustation, which, falling firom
the sides of the channel, or the inside of the vaults, has obstruded
whole arches. In order to secure the aqueduct it was necessary that
a number of inhabitants should settle there, and hence the origin of
Palffi-Tynis. It may be alleged, this is a factitious spring, formed by
a subterraneous canal from the mountains ; but if so, why was it not
conducted directly to the rock T It seems much more probable it is
natural ; and that they availed themselves of one of those subterraneous
rivers of which we find many in S3nria. The idea of oonfining this
water to force it to rise is worthy of the Phenicians.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 315
Things were thus situated, when the king of Babylon, conqueror
of Jerusalem, determined to destroy the only city which continued
to brave his power. The Tyrians resisted him for thirteen years, at
the end of which, wearied with endless efforts, they resolved to place
the sea betwen them and their enemy, and passed accordingly into the
opposite island! a quarter of a league's distance. Till this period
the island must have contained few inhabitants, on account of the
want of water. Necessity taught them to remedy this inconvenience
by cisterns, the remains of which are still to be found in the form of
vaulted caves, paved and walled with the utmost care. Alexander
invaded the east, and, to gratify his barbarous pride, Tyre was de-
stroyed, but soon rebuilt ; her new inhabitants profited by the mole,
by which the Macedonians had made themselves a passage to the
island, and continued the aqueduct to the tower, where the water is
drawn at this day. But the arches being in many places wasting, and
serviceable in none, how is it that the water is conveyed thither?
This must be done by secret conduits contrived in the foundations and
which still continue to bring it from the well. A proof that the water
of the tower comes from the Ras^l-aen is, that it is troubled in Sep*
tember as at the tower, at which time it is of t^e same color, and it
has at all times the same taste. These conduits must be very numer-
ous; for although there are several lakes near the tower, yet the
well does not cease to supply a considerable quantity of water.
The power of the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean, and in the
west, is well known ; of this Carthage, Utica, and Cadiz are celebra-
ted monuments. We know that she extended her navigation even
into the ocean, and carried her commerce beyond England to the
north, and the Canaries to the south. Her connections with the east,
though less known, were not less considerable : the islands of T3nrus,
and Aradus, (the modern Barhain) in the Persian gulf; the cities of
Faran and Phenicum Oppidum, on the Red sea, in ruins even in the
time of the Greeks, prove that the Tyrians had long frequented the
coasts of Arabia and the Indian sea." .Finally, he closes his testimo-
ny in these words : «* Instead of that ancient commerce so active
and so extensive, Spur, reduced to a miserable village, has no other
trade than the exportation of a few sacks of com, and raw cotton, nor
any merchant but a single Greek factor in the service of the French
of Saide, who scarcely makes sufficient profit to maintain his fam-
ily."*
* Yohiey's Timveb, New Toifc efitimi, toL ii pp. 128—138.
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316 DIVINE ADTHOBITY AND
Here the Infidel has what he demands, the fi^t of the folfittme&t oi
the prophecy proven by the evidence of an unexceptionable witaeasy
one in every respect competent to testify in the case, and who, as the
Infidel himself most acknowledge, is above suspicion. Bat lest the
Infidel may imagine that the eyes of one of the great apostles of his
cause deceived him, we will prodace the testimony of others to the
same fact Dr. Shaw, who visited that country sometime before
Volney, says : «< I visited several creeks and inlets in order to discern
what provision there might have been formerly made for the security
of their vessels. Yet, notwithstanding that Tjrre was the chief man-
titne power of this country, I could not obserFC the least ickeak of
either cothon or harbor that could have been of any extraordinary
capacity. The coasting ships, indeed, still find a tolerably good shd-
ter from the northern winds under the southern shore, but are obliged
immediately to retire, when the winds change to the west or south ;
so that there must have been some better station than this for theb
security and reception. In the N. N. E. part likewise of the city, we
see the traces of a safe commodious basin lying within the walls ; but
which at the same time is very small, scarce forty 3rard8 in diameter.
Neither could it once have enjoyed a large area, unless the buildings
which now circumscribe it, were encroachments upon its original
dimensions. Yet even this pit, small as it is at present, is notwi^
standing so choked up with Hand and rubbish, that ^ boats of thoee
poor fishermen, who now and then visit this once renowned empo-
rium, can with difficulty only be admitted." *
iilifie, in his Letters from Palestine, says : '* Of this once power-
ful mistress of the ocean, there now exists scarcely any traces. Some
miserable cabins ranged in irregular lines, dignified with the name of
streets, and a few buildings of a rather better description, occupied by*
the officers of government, compose nearly the whole of the town. It
still makes indeed some languishing efibrts at commerce, and con-
trives to export annually to Alexandria, cargoes of silks and tobacco,
but the amount merits no consideration. * Tlie noble dust of JiUx*
andert traced by the imaginatum^ tiU found stopping a beer barrd^*
would scarcely afibrd a stronger contrast of grandeur and debasement
than T3rre, at the period of being besieged by that conqueror, and the
modem town of Tsour erected on its ashes." Heie then is a man of
whom it is alleged by the advocates of Revelation, that the Almighty
communicated to him certain events that would take place in the future.
• 8haw*s Tmvdi, toL iL pp. 80, SI.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 817
The events, «s communicated by this professed prophet of Jehovah,
are told in terms not only easy to be understood, but impossible to be
misapprehended, and those who will consult chapter xxvii. of Ezekiel,
or Rollin's Ancient History, must be convinced that the events were
such as no human foresight or sagacity could have discovered.. In
examining this man's claims as an accredited servant of Jehovah, Mr.
Olmsted's requisition has been complied with to the letter, for the
ocpurrence of the facts contained in the prophecy has been proven by
what he himself acknowledges legitimate testimony. Therefore Mr.
Olmsted and ail who occupy his ground, from their own showing are
bound to believe that Ezekiel, who foretold the facts, was ** a pro-
phet inspired of God."
We proceed by the same process to prove that the oth^r writers of
the Old Testament Scriptures have equal claims with Ezekiel, as the
prophets of the Highest; and as Volney has so efficiently advocated
the cause of the adversaries as to cheat tens of thousands into the be-
lief, that the prophets of Israel were impostors and liars, and the Bible
a book of lies, we will again press him into the service, and in spite of
himself compel him, by his testimony, to build up that cause against
which he felt the most inveterate hostility, and labored during life to
destroy. Owing 4o the labors of the sagacious Keith, this is an easy
task ; for that able champion of Christianity has prepared a luminous
xMfi containing no less than one hundred and fifty predictions relative
to Judea and the adjacent regions of Syria ; in every instance accom-
panied with just such testimony of its fulfillment as Mr. Olmsted re-
quires. And as Volney is a leading witness, we have only to cull out
of those predictions, the fulfillment of which are attested by this cham-
pion of Infidelity, a sufficient number to answer our purpose. And,
as Uie reader will see, the prophecies are so luminous and * apposite
that they require not a word to point, out the meaning or application ;
and. the testimony is so clear and convincing that of themselves they
are fully sufficient to setde the convicition in the minds of the most
perverse of the votaries of Infidelity, that the seers of Israel, so far
from being "impostors " and " liars," were the true prophets of the
living God,
The wmunciirtloui of Ui» Seen of Israet, Volney'f Testlmonj to their Truthiiiliwig.
who, bj Infidels, are lUgmaUzed u Impoi-
tore and llan. ^^ *^
The generation to come of your I journetbd in the empire of
children that shall rise up after the Ottomans, and traversed the
you, and the stranger that provinces, which formevly were
SHALL coHB FROM A FAR LAND, kingdoms of E^gTpt and SyiA.
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DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
The amniiieteUonf of th» Smiw of lonel,
wbO) bj lofldeb, an fUfmatiMd u Impof-
ton uuHlan.
when they see the piagues of that
landf and the sicknesses which
the Lord hadi laid upon it, shall
say ; Deut. xjdx. 22.
Wherefore hath the Lord done
this onto this land ! What mean-
eth the heat of this great anger ?
-ft. 24.
I win Bcatter you among the
heathen^ and will draw out a
sword after you : and ffour land
ihall be desolate; Lemt, xxxvi.
33.
Then shall the land enjoy her
Sabbaths (or rest, or be untitled).
•4f long as it lie^ desolate,
and ye be in your enemies^ land;
even tlim shall the land rest, v.
34. The land also shall be left
of them, and shall enjoy her Sab-
baths, or rest, while she lieth des-
olate without them, v. 43. They
(the Jews on their final return)
shall raise up the former desola-
tions, the desolations of many
generations; Isa. Ixi. 4. See,
also, ha. xxxiii. 15; Iviii. 12.
Mzek. x^tL 24, 25, 83—86;
YoliMjr'M TMdBMBy to thalr TrtkfttooM.
I wandered over the eotm/ru— I
enumerated the kingdoms of Da-
mascus and Idumea, of Jerusa-
lem and Samaria. This Syria,
said I to my self t now almost de-
populated, then contained a hun*
dred flourishing cities, and a-
bounded with towns, villages, and
hamlets. What are become of so
many productions of the hand of
man T What are beoome of these
ages of abundance and of life!
£b. — Vohiey^s StnnSf c. i* II.
pp. 1, 2, 7.
Great Qod ! from whence pro-
ceed such melancholy revolu-
tions? For what cause is the
fortune of these countries ao stri-
kingly changed? Why are so
many cities destroyed ! Why ia
not that ancient population repro-
duced and perpetuated ?— A. c.
ii. p. 8.
The Jews, as all know, have
been scattered among the heathen.
I have travorsed this desolate
country, says Yolney. — Ruvm^ c
ii. p. 7.
Every day I found in my route
fields abandoned by the plough.—
lb. c. i. The art of cultivation
is in the most deplorable state. —
Volney^s TVavelSf vol. ii. p. 418.
Why do these lands no longer
boast their former temperature
and fertility? Why have these
favors been transferred, as it were,
for so many ageSf to other na-
tions and different climes ?— Fb/-
ney's Rwns^ c. zi. p. 0.
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INSPIEATION OP THE SORIPTUREa
319
Tk« aBBQBctattoBi of the Seen oflinel, wbo,
by lafidelf, we eilgmaiUed u imjwflon
and lian.
ZZX¥iii. 8.
sea, iii. 4.
Dan. ix« 37« H<h
Your land, strangers devour it
in your presence, and it is deso-
late, as overthrown hy strangers,
Isa. i. 7.
Destruction upon destruction is
cried, Jer. iv. 20. Mischief shall
come upon mischief, Ezek. vii.
21, 26. Tell your children of it,
and let your children teU their
children, and their children an-
other generation. For a nation is
come up upon my land, strong
and without number, &;c. Joel i.
I will give it into the hands of
strangers for a prey.
And unto the wicked of the
earth for a spMs Ezek. vii. 21.
The robbers shall enter into it
and defile it, Ezek. vii. 22.
The holy places shall be de-
filed.
Tolneyl Teetimony to their TrathfUBeM.
Within two thousand five hun-
dred years we may reckon ten in-
vasions which have introduced
into Syria a succession of foreign
nations.-^ Fo/n^y'^ Travels^ vol.
i. p. 3S6.
Syria became a province of the
Roman empire. In the year 622
(636) the Arabian tribes, collect-
ed under the banners of Moham-
med, seized, or rather laid it
waste. Since that period, torn to
pieces by the civil wars of the
Fatimites and the Ommiades,
wrested from the califs by their
rebellious governors, taken from
them by the Turkmen soldiery,
invaded by the European crusa-
ders, retaken by the Mamelukes
of £g3q>t, and ravaged by Tarn*
erlane and his Tartars, it has at
length fallen into the hands of the
Ottoman Turks.— Fo//i€y'« TVav-
eb, p. 357.
Judea has been the scene of
frequent invasions which have in-
troduced a succession of foreign
nations (des peupks strangers),
lb. p. 365.
When the Ottomans took Sy-
ria from the Mamelukes, they
oonsidered it only as the spoil of
a vanquished enemy. According
to the law, the life and property
of the vanquished belonged to
the conquerors.-^A. vol. ii. p.
370.
The government is far firom
disapproving a system of rob^
bery and /wtmcicr.— 75. p. 381.
The holy places were polluted
with ^e monuments of idolatry.
2
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820
The tmranclatloBi of the S«en of iRsal, who,
by Infidels, are •Ugmatind u Impostoa
end lien.
I will bring the land into deso-
lation; and your enemies which
dwell therein shall be astonished
at it, Levit xxvi. 32. Every
one that passeth thereby shall be
astonished^ Jet. xviii. 6.
Your highways shall bedeso*
late, LmAt. xxvi. 22.
DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
TobM7*i TesUmeoy to tiieir TrnthftiliieM.
The wayfaring man ceaseth,
Isa. xxxiiu 8.
I will destroy your high places
and bring your sanctuaries into
desolation, Le/foit. xxvi. 30, 31.
Amos iL 51
The palaces shall be forsaken,
Isa. xxxii. 14.
I will destroy the remnant of
the seacoast, Ezfk. xxv. 16.
I will make your cities waste,
Zet;. xxvi. 31.
Few men left, Isa* xxiv, 6.
I will make the land desolate ;
yea, more desolate than the wil-
derness towards Diblath, in all
their habitations.
So feeble a population in so
excellent a country may well ex-
cite our astonishment; but this
will be increased if we compare
the present number of inhabitants
with that of ancient times. — Vol'
ney^s TVot?. vol. ii. p. 866.
Everywhere one might have
seen cultivated ^e\^, fre^pAented
roadSf and crowded habitations.
Ah! what are become of those
ages of abundance and of life ?-—
BuinSf c. ii. p. 7. In the interi-
or parts of the country there are
neither great roads, nor canals,
nor even bridges, &c. The roads
in the niountains are extremely
bad. It is remarkable that we
never see a wagon nor a cart in
all Sjrria. — Votney^s Travels^ voL
ii. pp. 417, 419.
Nobody travels alone. Be-
tween town and town there are
neither posts nor public convey-
ances, m. — lb. p. 418.
The temples are thrown down,
The palaces demolished,
The ports filled up.
The towns destroyed.
And the earth, stripped of inr
habitants^
Seems a dreary burying-place.*
RuinSf e. ii. p. 8.
*Iii thie single sentence, without the addition or exception d a word, Yolney
thus dearly md unconsciously shows the fulfillment of no less than six predictions^
41 2
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INSPIRATION OF THE 8CRIPTURE&
t21
TIm •ommolitloiiiof the 9mn of bfMl,who,
bj Iiiild«lS| an •tignwUsod u ImpoMon
and Ikii.
Behold, the Lord maketh the
land empty, and maketh it waste,
and turaeth it npside down ; and
ecattereth abroad the inhabitants
thereof. And it shall be as with
the people, so with the priest ; as
with the servant, so with the mas-
ter, ^^c Isa. xxiv. 1. •
The earth is defiled under the
inhabitants thereof, lb. The worst
of the heathen shall possess their
houses, JSzek. vii. 24.
Because they have transgressed
the law, changed the ordinances,
broken the everlasting covenantt
YoliMy^ TeaUmooy to their TrathfelMii. *
Sjnria has undergone revohp-
tiona which have confounded the
different races of the inhabitants.
Volney*9 Dr^vebf vol. i. p. 850.
The barbarism of Syria is eom-
plete. — Ibid, vol, ii. p. 44B*
Therefore hath the curse
voured the eartL
de-
God has, doubtless^ pronounced
a secret itialediction against the
earth.— Fo&^y'^ Suinef t5. ii. p.
ii.
I wandered over the country
and examined the condition of the
peasants^ and nowhere perceived
aught but robbery and devastation,
misery and wretchedness.— -Fi^
ney, xb. p. 2.
In the mountains they do not
prune the vines, and they nowhere
ingraft trees. — Volney^s Travelif
vol. ii. p. 835.
Good cheer would infall3>ly
expose them to extortion, and
wine to a corporeal punishment
V6lney*s Travels, vol. i. p. 480.
The Arabs (in singing) may be
said to excell most in the melan-
choly strain. To hear his plain-
tive tones, his sighs, and sobs, it
i$ almost impossible to refrain
from tears.— Fofafy'* Travels f
vol. ii. p. 440.
The murfli of tabrets ceaseth ; They (the inhabitants) have no
the joy of the harp oeaseth, Isa. music but vocal, for they neither
xxiv. 8. know nor esteem instrument^.
41 2
' And they that dweH herein are
desolate, /so. xxiv. 5, 6.
The vine languisheth, Jb. 7.
The new wine moumeth; they
shall not drink wine with a song,
fsa. xxiv. 9.
AH the merry-hearted do sigh.
Their shouting shall be no shout-
ing;
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PrnifB AUTHOKITY AND
TiM uiiuuMltitloBi pf Ui« S«era of Unal, wbo,
by Infidola, are •U^matlxed m ImpoMoff
and Wan,
The noise of them that rejoice
eiideth; all joy is darkened; the
mirth of the land b gone, Isa,
xxiv. 8, 11.
Many days and years shall ye
be troubled, ye careless women.
Tremble, ye women that are at
ease; be troubled, ye careless
ones; strip you ^d make you
bare, and gird sackcloth upon
your loins, Aa, xxxii. 10, 11.
Upon the land of my people
shall come up thorns and briers,
lb. 13.
The forts and towers shall be
for dens for ever, lb, v. 14.
The multitude of the city shall
be left, i&. The defenced city
shall be left desolate, and the hob*
itation forsaken, and left Hke a
wildeme88i la^i. xxvii. 10.
When the boughs thereof are
withered, they shall be broken
off; the women come and set
them on fire, Isa. xxyii. 10.
Volneyl TarttaMOj to tMr TnMtimm.
Such instruments as they have,
npt excepting theur flutes, are de*
testable.— Fo/n^'» TVove^, p.
439.
They have a serious, nay, even
sad and melancholy countenance.
They rarely laugh ; and the gay-
ety o( the French appears to £em
a fit of delirium. — Volnty*s Trao'
eh, vol. i. p. 476, 461.
In Palestine you may see mar-
ried women almost uncovered.-^
lb. vol. L p. 861.
The earth produces only briers
and wormwood.-* FoMey'^ Ru'
tn#, p. 9.
At every step we meet with ru-
ins of towers, dungeons and caa-
des with fosses, frequently inhab-
ited by jackalls, owls, and scorpi-
ons.— Volfiexfs TraveU, vol. iL
p. 836.
' There are innumerable monu-
ments which depose in favor of
the great population of high an-
tiquity, such as the prodigious
quantih/ of rtdns dispersed over
tne plains, and even in the moun-
tains, at this day deserted. — Vol-
ney*s Travels, vol. ii. p. 868.
The olive-trees Tnear Arima-
ihea) are daily perisning through
age, the ravages of contending
factions, and even from secret
mischief. The Mamelukes hav-
ing cut down all the olivcrtrees,
for the pleasure they take in de-
stroying, or to make fires, Yafa
has lost its greatest commerce. —
Vohiejfs Travels, vol. ii. pp. 383,
838.
2
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IN8PIBATI0N OP THE SCRIPTURES.
8^8
TIm aammetaUoM of the Smti of bnel, who,
by Infidelf, ara ■UgmatiMd u ImpoMora
and Ifuf.
For it 10 a people of no under-
•tanding, laa. xxvii« 11.
Your cities burned with fire,
Isa. i. 7.
Many pastors have destroyed
my yineyard, they have trodden
my portion under foot, Jer. xii.
10.
They have made my pleasant
portion a desolate wilderness,
the whole land is made desolate,
lb. 10, 11.
The spoflers are come upon all
high places through the wilder-
ness, Jer. xii. 12.
No flesh shall have peace.
They have sown wheat, but
they shall reap thorns ; they have
put themselves to pain, but shall
not profit
ITiey shall be ashamed ofyouif
revenues, Jer. xii. 13.
Volneyl TofOmoo/ to thdr TiiithftilB««.
The most simple arts are in a
state of barbarism ; the sciences
are /o/a% unknown.— A. p. 442.
A place lately ravaged with^re
and sword would have predaely
the appearance of this village
(Loudd, Lydda.) Ramla is in d-
most as ruinous a state. — Ibid. pp.
332, 333.
Like the Turkmen, the Curds
are pastors and wanderers. A
third wandering people in Syria
are the Bedouin Arabs. The
Turkmen, the Curds, and the Be-
douins have no fixed habitations,
but keep perpetuaUy wanderings
with their tents and herds. Ch.
xxiii. of Volney*s JVavels is en*
titled, Of the Pastoral or Wander-
ing Tribes of Syria.— V. i. p. 267.
With its numerous advantages
of climate and soil, it is not aston-
ishing that Syria should always
have been esteemed a tnost deKr
dous country. — VoJney^s Tror
vels, vol. i. p 321. I have seen
nothing but solitude and deser-
tion.— Volney*s Ihdnst p. 7.
These precautions (against rob-
bers) are above all necessary in
the. countries exposed to the
Arabs, such as Palestine, and the
whole frontier of the desert. — Vol-
ney^s Travels, vol. ii. p. 417.
War, famine, and pestilence,
assail them at every turn. — Vol'
ney^s Ruins, p. 9.
' Man 502^9 in anguish, and reaps
vexation and care. — lb. 1 1 . They
would not be permitted to reap
the fruit of their labors. — VoU
ney^s Travels, vol. ii. p. 435.
The annual sum paid by Syria
into the treasury of the sultan,
amounts to 2346 purses: vizw-*
2
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884
TIm tiia«Mlatloiii of the Smnotlmul, wbO)
^ Infidela, an lUgmatised m impoMon
DIVINB AUTHORITY AND
YoUMj^toTwOmoBf to tliiir TraiUUMM.
Thus saith the Lord God of
the- inhabitants of Jenisaiero, and
of the land of Israel, they shall
•at their bread with carefulness,
and drink their waier with aston-
ishment ; that her land may be
desolate from all that is therein,
because of the violence of all
them that dwell therein, Ezek.
xii. 19.
Ye shaH be as a garden that
haih no water, ha. L 30. How
long shall the land mourn, and
the herbs of every field wither,
for the toickedness of them that
dwell therein T Jer, xii. 4.
And die eities that are inhabit-
For Aleppo • » • » • 90#
Tripoli 750
Damascus • . • 45
* Acre . • \. ^ . . 750
Palestine . • <• •
2345 purses.
(Or £112,125.)— Fobiey's Ttor
vekf vol. ii. p. 360.
The peasants are everywhere
reduced to a little cake of bmiey
or dourra, to onions, lentib, and
water. Dread prevails throu^
the villages. The arbitrary paw-
er of the sultan, transmitted to
the pacha and to afi his sub-dele-
gateis, by giving a free course to
extortion, becomes the main-
spring of a tyranny which circur
httes through evert class, while
its effects, by a reciprocal reac-
tion, are everywhere fetal to agri-
culture, the arts, commeroe, popu-
lation; in a word, evbrythin«
which constitutes the power of
the state, — Volney^s Travels, vd.
ii. pp. 378, 379, 412, 477.
The remains of cisterns are to
be found (throughout Judea) in.
which they collected the rain wa-
ter; and traces of the canals by
which these waters were distribu-
ted on the fields. — MaUe Brunts
Geography, vol. ii. pp. 150, 151:
We here see none of that gay
carpeting of grass and flowers
which decorate the meadows of
Normandy and Flanders. The
land of B3rria has almost riways
a dusty appearanu. Had not
diese countries been ravaged by
the hands of man; they might
perhaps at this day have been
shaded by forests. — Vohuy^s
Travels, vol. ii. p. 359.
Every day I found in my route
3
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INSPIRATION 07 THE SCRIPTURES. 82ft
The UHiaacUdloM tf the Seen of Israel, wbo, ^911^1 Tenimony to their Trathftdoeii.
hf Inildelf, ere etlgmaUsed u ImpoMon
•nd lien.
ed 8}\all be laid uraste, and thev villages deserted and cities in ru-
shall know that I am the Lord, ins.— FoMey'«i?mn«, c^i.
Ezek. xii. 20.
When thus it sh^ll he in the I looked for the ancient people
midst of the land among the peo- and their works : and all that I
pie, there shall be as the shaking could find was a faint trace, like
of an olive-tree, and as the glean- to what the foot of the passenger
ing of the grapes when the vin- leaves on the sand.— Folruy^^
tage is ,done, A. 13. The glory BtdnSt c. ii.
of Jacob shall be made thin, lea.
xvii. 4.
Of all the sacred writers, Paul and Isaiah, for obvious reasons, are
the peculiar objects of the virulent enmity of Infidels.
Mr. Olmsted, who jprossly misrepresents aU the prophets, would
have us believe, that what the advocates of Revelation hold to be pro-
phecies delivered by Isaiah, are nothing ndore than << scraps picked
up here and there,*' destitute of order or meaning. That the blindness
and folly of this impious traduceiT of the 'evangelical prophet, may
be clearly demonstrated ; we now select one of his predictions, and re-
lative to the land of Edom or Idnmea, which in the Scriptures is re-
presented as having been given to Esau for his inheritance. Isuah,
says : ** My sword shall be bathed in heaven ; behold, jit shall come
down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment
From generation to generation it. shall lie waste ; none shall pass
trough it for eyer and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall
possess it ; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it : and he shall
stretch out*upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness :
they shall call the nobles thereof, to the kingdom, but none shall be
there, and all her princes shall be nothing : and thorns shall come up in
her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall
be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the
desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the sa^
tyr shall cry to his fellow ; the screech-owl also shall rest there,
ind find for herself a place of rest* There shall the great owl make
her nesfti and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow : there
shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek
ye out of the book of the Lord, and read : no one of these shall fail,
none shall want her mate : for my mouth it hath commanded* and his
spirit it hath gathered them : and he hath cast the lot for them«
and his hand hath . divided it unto them by line ; they shall pos-
8D 2
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tt6 DIVINE AUTHORTTT AND
8688 it for erdr: from generation to generation ehall they dweB
therein.*' *
According to this and many other predictiona, (while the descend*
ants of Jacob were to be driven from the land of their inheritance,
and dispersed among the nations of the earth, but finally be restored
to the country of their fathers,) Esau was utteriy to be destroyed, and
bis land to "be no n^ore inhabited for ever.
Yolney, in a few brief sentences, fully illustrates both the prophecy
and the facts — he says : «* This country has not been visited by any
traveler, but it well merits such an attention ; for, from the reports
of the Arabs of Bakir, and the, inhabitants of Gaza, who frequently
go to Maan and Karak, on the road of the pilgrims, there are to the
south-east of the lake Asphaltites (Dead sea) within three days' jour-
ney, upwards of thirty ruined towns absolutely deserted. . Several
of them have large edifices, with columns that may have belonged to
the ancient temples, or .at least to Greek churches. The Arabs some>
times make use of them to fiold their cattle in ; but in general avoid
them on account of the enormous scorpions with which they swarm.
We cannot be -surprised ^i these traces of ancient population, when
We recollect that it was the country of the Nabatheans, the most
powerM of the Arabs, and of the Idumeans, who at the time of the
destruction of Jerusalem, were almost as numerous as the Jews, ns
appears from Josephus, who informs us, that on the first rumor oC
the march of Titus against Jerusalem^ thirty thousand Idumeans in-
stantly assembled, and threw then^selves into the city for its defence.
It appears that besides the advantages of being under a tolerably geod
government, these districts enjoyed a considerable share of the com-
merce of Arabia and India, which increased dieir industry and popa-
latioD. We knowihat as far back as the time of Solomon, the cities
of Atsioum-Gaber, (Esion Gaber) and Ailah (Eloth,) were highly
frequented marts. These towns were ^iuiated on. the adjacent gulf
of the Red Sea, where we still find the latter yet retaining its bsbm,
and perhaps the former in that of El-Akaba, or the end (of the sea.)
These two places are in the hands of the Bedouins, who, being desti-
tute of a navy and commerce, do not inhabit them. But the pilgrims
report that there is at El-Akaba a wietohed fort The IdnoMSBi,
from whom the Jews only took their ports at intervals, must have
found in them a great source of wealth and population. It even ap-
pears that the Idumeans rivall^ the Tyrians, who also possessed s
• Isakh xzziv. 6, 10—17.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCKIPTURBa «27
towiit the mme of which b ankiiown» on the coast of HadjaZf in
the desert of Tih, and the city of Faran, and without doubt El-Tor,
which served it by way of port From this place the caravans
might reach Palestine and Judea (through Idumea) in eight or ten
days. This route, which is longer than that from Suez to Cairo, is
infinitely shorter than from Aleppo to Bassorah." *
Here we have undesignedly die evidence of Yokiey to the truth of a.
most wonderful prophecy, which no illustration can strengdien, and
no ingenuity can pervert The substance of it is, that the Idun^eans
were a populous an^ powerful nation, long posterior *o the delivery
of the prophecy ; that they possessed a tolerably good government;
that Idumea contained many cities ; that these cities are now absolutely
deserted ; and that their ruins swarm with venomous scorpions ; and
that it was a commercial nation, and possessed highly frequented
marts ; that it forms a shorter route than the ordinary one to India; and
yet that route is totally broken up. So that his testimony proves the
truth of all the particulars of the prophecy. The last is evidently,
wh^t is meant by the passage, ** None shall pass through it forever."
Yolney's account is sufficiently descriptive of the desolation thai
now i:ejgns over Idumea ; and the inibrraation which Seetzen derived
at Jerusalem respecting it is of similar import. He was uAd that " st
the distance of two days* journey and a half from Hebron, he would
find considerable ruins of the ancient city of Abde, and that for all
the rest of the journey he would see no -platfe of habitation } he would
meet only with a few tribes of wandering Arabs." From the borders
of Edom, Captains Irby and Mangles b^eld abomidless extent of
desert views, which they have hardly ever seen equaUed for iQ^igu-
larity and grandeur. Burckhardt says of it : •< It might with troth be
called Petra, not only on account of its rocky mountains, but also of
the elevated phin already described, which is so much covered with
•tones, especially flints, that it may with great propriety be called a
stony desert, although susceptible of culture; in many places it is
overgrown with wild herbs, and must even have been thickly inhab-
ited ; for the traces of many towns and viUages are met with on both
sides of the Hady road, between Maan.and Akaba, as well as between'
Maan and the plains of Houran, in which direction arb also many
springs. At present all this country is a desert, and Maan (Teman)
is the only inhabited place met. I will stretch out my Hand agam$t
thee^ O Mount Seitf and unll make thee most desolate, I witt
• Yohiey'i TraTelfe, voL ii. pp. SOT, 208.
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838 DIVINE AUTHORiry AND
stretch out my hand ttpon Edonif and make it desolate from 7V>
man.**
That enterprtsiDg traveler, Mr. Stevens, whose late antiquarian
.researches have been received with so much interest both in Europe
and America, a few years ago, performed the dangerous achievement
of passing through Idumea, which until his visit was deemed an
impossibility. His. testimony fully proves the truth of the prophecy.
**I had now crossed the borders- of Edom,*' says this graphic writer.
•• Standing near the shore of the Elanitic branch of the Red sea, the
doomed and accursed land lay stretched qut before me, the theatre
of awful visitations and their more awful fulfillment ; given to Esaa
as being of the fabess of the earth, btU now a barren wa$te^ a
picture of death, an eternal monument of the wrath of an offended
God, and a fearful witness to the truth of the words spoken by his
prophets.. I lead in the sacred books, prophecy upon prophecy, and
corse upon curse, against the very land on which I stood. I was about
to journey through this land, and to see with my own eyes whether
the Almighty had stayed his uplifted arm, or whether his sword had *
indeed come down upon ihe people of his curse to judgment" '* The
land of Idumea lay before me in barrenness and desolation ; no trees
grew on the valley and no verdure oil the mountain tops. All was
bare, dreary and desolate."
Jeremiah also denounces the judgments of the Afanighty upon
Edom, in the following strains : ** I have sworn by myself, saith the
Lord, ^t Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and
a curse; and idl the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. Thy
terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thy heart, O thou
that dwellestin the clefts of the rock, that boldest the height of the
hill i though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I wHI
bring thee down fvom thence, saith the Lord. Also Edom shall be a
desoTation : every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall
hiss at all the plagues thereof." *
To the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Bozrah (Petra) we
have the testimony of several unexceptionable witnesses. Burck-
hardt visited the cite of this ancient city, the ruins of which not only
attest its ancient slpendor, ** but they are entitled to rank among the
most curious remains of ancient art" It appears that though the
city be desolate, the monuments of its opulence and power are dura-
ble. There are, channels, one on each side of the river, for convey-
* Jeremiah xlix. 13, 16, 17.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 330
ihg the water to the city ; numerous tombs ; sbove two' hundred and
fifty sepulchres, or excavations ; many mausoleums, one in particular,
of colossal dimensions, in perfect preservation, and a work of immense
labor, containing a chamber sixteen paces square and above twenty-
five feet in height, with a colonnade in front, thirty-five feet high,
crowned with a pediment highly ornamented; two large truncated
P3nramids, and a theatre with all its beauties, capable of containing
about three thousand spectatovs, all ctit out of rock. In some places
these sepulchres are excavated one oyer the other, and the side of the
mountain is so perpendicular, that it aeems impossible to approach
the vppermostf no path whatever being visible. *«The ground,"
says Burckhardt, '^^ is covered with heaps of limestone, foundations of
buildings, fragments of columns, and vestiges of paved streets, all
clearly indicating, that a large city once existed here. On the left
bank of the river is a rising ground extending westward for nesgdy
three quarters of a mile, entirely covered with similar ruins. On the
right bank, where the ground is more elevated, ruins pf the same
description are to be se'en. There are also the remains of a palace,
and of several temples. In the eastern clifi* there are upwards of fifty
separate sepulchreitf, close to each other."*
Captains Ii:by and Mangles visited Petra, and they identify it as
the ancient capitol of Ekiom. t On entering the pass which conducts
to the theatre, they say, «* The ruins of the city here burst on the '
view in their full grandeur, shut in on the opposite side by barren,
craggy precipices, from which numerous ravines and ¥alle3rs branch
out in all directions, the mountains covered with an endless variety
of excavated tombs and private dwellings, (O thou that dweUest in
tihe clefts of the rock^ &c. Jer. xlix. 16.,) presented altogether the
most singular view we ever beheld." %
Captains Irby and Mangles . having, together with Mr* Banks and
Mr. Legh, spent two days in diligently examining them, give a more
particular detail of the ruins than Burckhardt's account supplied ; and
the more full the description, the more precise and wonderful does the
prophecy appear. But for want of room we must pass on to Mr.
Stevens' testimony^ ^
* Burckhardt's TraTek in Syria, pp. 422 — 432.
•\ Dr. Vincent says, that ** tha name df this capital, in all the Tarious langnagee in
wmch it occurs, implies rock, and as such, it is described in the Scriptures, in Stra-
bo, and AUEdressi.^' And in a note ha enumerates the various names, having all
the same signification. 8ela, a rock, ^the very word in the original;) Petra, a rock,
the Greek name, and the Rodc,pre-eramently and expressly referring to this passage
of 8crq»ture. ^ Captains Iiby and Mangle's Travels, p. 402.
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810 DITINE AUTHOBmr AND
Of the narrow defiles throagli which he entered the city, thii
graphic writer says : *' For about two mifes it lies between high and
precipitous ranges of rocks, from five hnndf^ to a thousand feet in
height, standing as. if torn asnndfr by some great conmlsion, and
barely wide enough for two horsemen to pass abreast A swelling
stream rushes between them ; the sumn^its are wild and broken ; in
some places overhanging the opposite sides, casting the darkness of
night upon the narrow defile ; then receding and forming an opening
above, through which a strong ray of light is thrown down, and illu-
minates with the blaze of day the frightful chasm below. Wild fig-
trees, oleanders, and ivy were growing out of the rocky sides of the
clifis hundreds of feet above' our heads ; the eagle was screaming
above us ; all along were the open doors of tofnbs, forming the great
Necropolis of the city ; and at the extreme end was a large open
space, with a powerfill body of light thrown down upon it, and ex-
hibiting in one foil view the facade of a beautiful temple, hewn out of
the rock, with rows of Corintfiian columns and ornaments, standi]^
out fresh and clear as if but yesterday from the hands of the sculptor.
Though coming directly from the banks of the Nile, where the pre-
servation of the temples excites the admiration and astonishment of
evety faraveler, we were roused and excited by the extraordinary
beauty and excellent condition of the great temple at Petra. Even
now, that I have returned to the pursuits and thought-engrossing
incidents of alife in the busiest city in the world, often in situations
as widely different as light from darkness, I see before me the facade
of that temple ; neither the Coliseum at Rome, grand and interesting as
it is, nor the ruins of the Acropolis at Athens, nor the Pyramids, nor
the mighty temples of the Nile, are so often present to my memory.
The whole temple, its columns, ornaments, porticoes, and porches,
are cut out from and form part of the solid rock ; and this rock, at the
foot of which the temple stands, like a mere point, towers several
hundred feet above, its face cut smooth to the very summit, and die
top remaining wild and misshapen as nature made it. The whole
area before the temple is perhaps an acre in extent, enclosed on all
sides except at the narrow entrance, and an opening to the left of the
temple, which leads into the area of the city by a pass through per-
pendicular rocks five or six hundred feet in height
It is not my design to enter into the details of the many monuments
in this extraordinary city ; but, to give a general idea of the character
of all the excavations, I cannot do better than go within the temple.
Ascending several broad steps, we entered under a colonnade of four
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INSPIRATION OP THE SORIPTtJRES. ^81
Corinthian columns, al>out thirty-five' feet high* into a large chamber of
some fifty feet square and twenty-five feet high. The outside of the
temple is richly ornamented, but the interior ib perfectly plain, there
being no ornament of any kind upon the walls or ceiling ; on each
of the three sides is a small chamber for the reception of the dead ;
and on the back wall of the innermost chamber I saw ihe* names of
Messrs. Legh, Banks, Irby, and Mangles, the four English travderd
who, with so much difficulty, had effected their entrance to the city ;
of Messieurs Laborde and Linant, and the two Englishmen and Ital-
ian of whom I have before spoke;i ; and two or three others, which,
from the character of the writing, I supposed to be the names of at-
tendants upon some of these gentlemen* These were the only names
recorded in the temple; and, besides Burckhardt, no other trayeler
had ever reached it. I was the first American who had ever been
there. Many of my countrymen, probably, as was the case with me,
have never known the existence of such a city.
Leaving the temple and the open area on which it fronts, and fol-
lowing the stream, we entered another defile much broader than the
first, on each side of which were ranges of tombs, with sculptured
doors and columns ; and on the left, in the bosom of the mountain,
hewn out of the solid rock, is a large theatre, circular in form, the
pillars in front fallen, and containing thirty-three rows of seats, capa-
ble of containing more than three thousand persons. Abovd the cori-
dor was a range of doors opening to chambers in the rocks, the seat3
of the princes and wealthiest inhabitants of Petra, and not unlike a
. row of private boxes in a modem theatres
The whole theatre is at this day in such a state of preservation, that
if the tenants of the tombs around could once more rise into life, they
might take their old places on its seats, and listen tp the declamation
of their favorite player. To me the stillness of a ruined city is no-
where so impressive as when sitting on the steps of its theatre; once
thronged with the gay and pleasure-seeking, but now given up to sol-
itude and desolation. Day af^er day these seals had been filled, and
the now silent rocks had echoed to the applauding shout of thou-
sands ; and little could an ancient Edomite imagine that a solitary
stranger, iirom a then unknown world, would one day be wandering
among the ruins of his proud and wonderful city, mediating upon the
fate of a race that has for ages passed away. Where are ye, hihabit-
ants of this desolate city ? ye who once sat on the seats of this the-
atre, the young, the high-born, the beautiful, and brave ; who once
rejoiced in your riches and power, and lived as if there was no grave ?
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3|f DIVINE AI7TH0BITT AND
Where are ye now ? Even the very tombs, #hoee open doOTf are
•tretching away in long ranges before the eyes of the wonderbg tn-
▼eler, cannot reyeal the mystery of your doom : your dry bones are
gone ; the robber has invaded yo^r giteves, and your very ashes have
been swept away to make room for ihe wandering Arab of the desert.
But we need not stop at the days when a gay population were
erowding to this theatre. In the earliest periods of recorded time^
long before this theatre was built, and Idng before the tragic mnsewas
known, a great city stood here. When Esau, having sold his birth-
ri^t for a mess of pbttage, came to his portion among the mountains
of Seir ; and Ekiom, growmg in power and strength, became pre-
•nmptuotts and haugl^jr, until, in her pride, wheii Israel praybd a
passage through her country, Edom said unto Israel, *'Thou shalt
not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the svrord."
Amid all the^ terrible denimciations against the land a[ Idumea, " her
cities and the inhabita^ts thereof,*' this proud city among the rocks,
doubtless for its extraordinary sins, was alwa3r8 marked as a subject
of extraordinary vengeance. "I have* sworn by myself, sai& the
Lord» that Bozrah (the strong or fortified city) shall become a desola-
tion, a reproach, and a waste, and a curse, and all the cities thereof
•hall be perpetual wastes. Lo, I will make thee small among the hea-
ven, and despised among men. Thy terribleness hath deceived thee«
and the pride of thy hisart, oh thoti that dwellest in the defU of the
rocks, that boldest the height of the hill ; though thou shouldest make
Ay nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence,
saith the Lord.*' ** They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom,
but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing ; and ihoms
ahdl come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses
tfiereof, and it shall be a habition for dragons, and a court for owls.**
I would that the sceptic could stand as I did among the rains of
this city among the rocks, and there open the sacred book and read die
words of the inspired penman. Written when this desolate place was
one of the greatest cities in the worid. I see the scoff arrested, his
cheek pale, his lip quivering, and his heart quaking with fear, as the
ruined city cries out to him in a voice loud and powerful as that of
one risen from the dead ; though he would not believe Moses and the
prophets, he believes the handwriting of Qod himself in the desola-
tion and eternal ruin around hiqi.***
* Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petrea and the Holj Land, by an American, yoL iL
pp.66— 68.
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INSPIRATION OF THE 8CKIPTUBE8. |88
It would not be a lUfficult task to show that not only hare theM
prophecies in relation to Edom been fulfiUed in a general sense, bat
in their most minute particulars* But a sufficient amount of testi-
mony has been adduced to show the blindness and foUy of the Infidel
who maintains that the writings of Isaiah are scraps picked up here
and there, without connection or meaning; and also to prove the
truthfulness of the prophets who denounced the judgments of Al-
mighty God upon the land and cities of Edom.
The appeal is now confidently made to every candid reader, wheth-
er the Infidel has not been met upon his own ground, and his own
requisition complied with ? A number of predictions have been ad-
duced, delivered in terms not only easy to be understood, bm impos-
sible to be misapprehended, and relating to events which no foresight
or sagacity of man could ever have discovered or conceived. The
facts have been proved *'by legitimate testimony;' by witnesses who
saw them, or other facts inconsistent with the non-happening of the
facts in question.*' The prophecies adduced are only a very few out
of a vast number. They have been selected, not because they are
more striking than many others ; but solely because the prindpal wit-
ness to their accomplishment in every respect stands high in the esti-
mation of the adversaries ; and as he was one of the most zealous and
inveterate enemies of revelation, his testimony cannot be suspected.
The Infidel, therefore, from his o^n showing is bound to believe
•<that the men who foretold these facts were prophets Inspired of
God." .' •
It will not do for the Infidel now to fly from his own ground, and as-
sert that thp fulfillment of these prophepies is to be ascribed to chance,
for as every effect must proceed from an adequate cause, reason and
philosophy, as well as religibn, must, ascribe their fulfillment only to
the inspiration of Almighty God. And if these predictions proceeded
from God, the book which contains them is stamped with the seal
of the Most High. The Bible is a revelation from heaven, and Infi-
delity must close her mouth in everlasting silence.*
* Persons who were present daring the debate with Mr. Ohnated and the writer
at Columbus, Mississippi, upon xeadmg these pages, may feel disappointed at not
finding in this chapter the argument b^ which the fulfillment of the prophecy of
Moses, in relation to the present condition of the Jews, was sustained ; and which,
as was conceded by nearly all present, was a triumphant refutation of the false as-
sumptions of Mr. Olmsted on that subject The writer has omitted it for several «
reasons. 1st Mn Olmsted maintained that Ezra was the author of the pn^hecy,
and that he suited the -story to the event Having in volume I. of this woik cleu^
ly demonstrated the fidlacy of thb assumption, and thereby haviDg utterly destroyed
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9$4 VPfUXE AUTHORITT AND
SECTION I.
HAvnfe by unquestionable and legitimate testimony established that
great troth, that the Seeris of Israel were the true prophets of Ood»
when it shall be shown that these prophets delivered predictions con*
cerning the Messiah, numerous, pointed and particular; pointing out
with singular exactness a variety of minute circumstances relating to
times, places and persons, which human li^agacity could neither have
foreseen nor conjectured, and that all these found their accomplish-
ment in Jesus Christ and the religion which he taught, then our last
great argument will be concluded, and our work accomplished ; for
then it will be proved that he is the Son of God, and the New Testa*
ment a revelation from heaven.
That ihe great theme of the prophecies of the Old Testament was
die coming of Messiah, is admitted not only by Jews and Christians,
but by all intelligent Infidels. , Jacob spoke distincdy of the coming
of this illustrious personage. Moses prophesied of another lawgiver
that' God was to raise up in a future age. This personage is pointed
out in many of t|ie prophetical writings, such as the following : '* thy
King cometh : thy salvation cometh : the Redeemer sh^ come to
Zion : the Lord cometh : the Messenger of the covenant he shall
come: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.** So
thoroughly have the Jews of every age been convinced that their
prophets predicted the coming of this illustrious personage, that while
they reject Jesus Christ as the promised deliverer, yet the ezpecta-
tiie whole foree of Mr. Olmated'i srgameDt, if it had anyfbret, It would bate been
out of place to combat it here.
and. Tbe unraaflonablenete and absurdity of bis argfoment is so a^^rent, and
at tbe same time it is so lengtb^» tbat to burden our pages witb it, would answer
no purpose, but to fatigue and disgust the reader. As its introduction was necessa
XT tor tbe proper underatanding of tbe argument then deliveM by tbe writer, bs
tbougbt it best to omit it alCogotber.
Srd. Mr. Olmsted baving odled upon tbe advocate of revelation to prove tbe fi^t
of the fulfillment of prophecy by legitimate testimony, and bis requisition having
been complied witb ; thereby tbe great question between him and tbe votaries of
Christianity in relation to tbe inspiration of tbe prophets, has been setUed, whidi,
■0 frr as be is concerned, renders aU further discussion on this subject unneoessaiy.
4tb. This work is by no means designed merely as a reply to the mass of &]iie
allegations of Mr. Olmsted. And as a sufficiency has been said thoroughly to ex*
pose the baselessness of his whole system of attack, it would be descending too mudi
# to notice aU bis worthless and contemptible cavils. Besides, much more formidable
adversaries than be is, have bad to receive a proper notice ; and the space already
occupied requires that this work shaU be brought to a dose as speedily as the na-
ture of tbe subject will permit
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCBIPTURES. aSt
taon of the MeMiah has bean no impressed upon iheir minds, that
notwithstanding the3r have been dispersed throughout the world lor
eighteen centuries, and their hopes during all that period .have been
disappointed, jret it still forms their bond of union, which no distance
can dissolve, and no earthly power can destroy.
The great question at issue is. Have, or hare not, the prophecies of
Messiah been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ? The Christian
maintains the affirmative, the Jew and the Infidel the negative. Jlav-
ing clearly demonstrated the genuinenessof the books of the New Tes-
tament, and having shown that the great leading facts detailed in them
did occur, the settlement of this question is a comparatively easy task*
As Jesus Christ himself, during his personal ministry, on earth, refer*
red the Jews, who were then his enemies, and afterwards his murder*
ers, to their own sacred books, in order to learn who he was, and what
was his office ; and as aAer his resurrection and ascension, his disci*
pies pointed them again to the prophecies which they read regnlaiiy
in the synagogues, to convince them that he whom they had slain was
the Messiah; to the same authority do we appeal for the setdement of
this question.
Mr. English, who is one of the most ingenious and plausible of the
Infidel writers, mainti^ns that the prophecies relating to the Messiahf
found no accomplishment in Jesus Christ. The strongest of his ar-
guments on this subject is drawn from the position of the Rabbi Isaac
in his «* Munimen Fidei.". In it he gives the foUowmg reasons why
the Jews deny the Messiahship of Jesus Christ 1st Because of his
genealogy. 2nd. His works. 3d. The time of his appearance. 4th«
The prophecies of the things to take place in the time of the Messi-
ah were not fulfilled in his age.
*< As to what concerns his genealogy, it does not prove this neces-
sary thing that Jesus was the son of David. Because he was not be-
gotten by Joseph, 'as the gospel of Matthew testifies. For in the
first chapter of it, it is written, that Jesus was bom of Mary when
she was yet a virgin, and had not been known by Joseph, which
things beipg so, the genealogy of Joseph has nothmg to do with Je-
sus. The descent and origin of M2fry is still less known, but it seems
from Luke's calling Elizabeth^ who was of Levi, her cotmn, that
Mary was of the tribe of Levt^ and not of Judah^ and consequently not
of Danid^ and if she were, still Jestu is not the more the son of Da-
vid, descents being reckoned from the males ordy^ Neither is the
genealogy of Joseph rightly deduced from David, but labors under
great difficulties. Matthew, and Luke also, not only disagree, but tf-
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Mi DIVINE AUTHOBTTY AND
reeaneUabhf sad^flatb/ contrmdUt each other in their genealogies of
Joseph. Now it cannot be that the testimony of two witnesses wha
directly contradict each other in the mttUer to be proved by them, can
be received as true. But the prophets hare directed us to expect no
Messiah but one bom of the seed of David." *
With respect to the genealogy of Jesus Christ, no such objection
was urged by the ancient Jews, but, as has been already shown, Mary-
is, in the Talmudical writings, called' the daughter of Heli; of whom,
in the genealogy given by Luke, it is said that Joseph was his son.
And the reason of this was : " As the Hebrews never permitted wo-
men to enter into their genealogical tables, whenever a fiamiily hap-
pened to end with a daughter, insUead of naming her in the genealo-
gy, they inserted ber husband as the son of him who was in reality
but lus father-in-law.*'f As has b^n already stated, Matthew gives
the legal descent of Jesus Christ, and Luke gives his natural descent.
Mary, therefore, was not of the tribe of Levi but of Judah, and de-
scended from David ; nor is there any thing contradic^>ry to ''tlus in
the statement that Elizabeth, her cousin, was of Levi, for the sister
of ihe mother of Mary might have married a Levite, the father of Eli-
zabetfa, which satisfactorily solves this difficulty. So that there ia no
contradictron in the different statements of Luke, neither do the gene-
alogies of Matthew and Luke contradict each other. And the only
difficulty in the genealogy of Joseph, is the omission of Joakim, in
the eleventh verse of our version, which, according to Griesbach, in-
stead pf readii^g, ** And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren,'*
should read, as it is in many manuscripts, << And Josias begat Joakim,
and Joakim begat Jechonias.'^
Our Infidel proceeds with his Jewish quotation, ** As to ihe works
of Jesus, we object to what he said concerning himself, <* Do not con-
sider me as come to establish peace on earth, for I have come to send
a sword, and to separate the son from the father, and the daughter from
her mother, and the daughter-in-law from her mother-in-lawi." But we
find the prophecies concerning the Messiah to attribute to him very
different works from these ; nay, the very opposite. For whereas Je-
sus testifies concerning himself, that he did not come to establish peace
in the earth, but division, fire, and sword ; Zechariah says concerning
the expected Messiah, *< He shall speak peace to the nations." Jesus
says he came lo send fire and Sword upon earth. But Micah says.
* Eng1iifa*s Ground of Christiamty Ezaminad, pp. 58, 69.
fSeeDr. Claike,inloc
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mSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. Sfy
that in the times of the trae Messiah " they shall beat their swords
into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall
not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more/* isc Jesus says ** that he came to serve others, not to be
ienred by them." But of the true Messiah it is said, ** All kings shall
bow themseWes before him, all nations shall serve him." The same
also is said in Zeehariah, *< His dominion shall be from one sea to the
other, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth." And so Dan*
iel, ** All dominions shdl serve and obey him."
It is at onoe conceded that in these statements there are things ap-
parently contradictory and irreconcilable ; but they are not more so
Aan the things which in the Old Testament Scriptures ai^e foretold of
the great Deliverer ; they are precisely of the same nature, and their
elucidation confirms the Messiahship of Jesus Christ, as will present*
lybe shown. In some predictions which refer to the Messiah, he is
represented as a mighty conqueror, who shaU rule the nations with a
rod of iron; as treading down the people in his anger, and bringing
down their strength to the ear&. But elsewhere it is foretold of him,
that a bruised reed he will not break, nor quench the smoking flax,
but raise it to a flame ; that he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his
voice to be heard in the streets. Elsewhere he is represented as coming
from Edom, with dyed garments from Bbzrah, glorious in his apparel,
traveling in the greatness of his strength ; and in contrast with this it
is elsewhere said. Behold thy King cometh unto thee ; he is just and
having, salvation, lowly and riding upon {m a«s. He is also repr#*
sented as despised and rejected of men, oppressed and afflicted ; as
giving his back to the smiters and his cheek to them that pluck <^
the hair. On account of these seeming contradictions, the later Rab-
bins have invented a distinction of a doubio Messiah, *' one who was
to redeem us, and another who was to suffer for ns ;" for they say that
there are two distinct persons promised under the name of the Mes-
siah, one of the tribe of Ephraim^ the other of the tribe of Judahf
one the son of Joseph^ the other the son of David; the one to pre-
cede, fight, and sufifer death, the other to conquer, reign, and never
die. But this distinction is false and of a modem date ; and at is an
incontrovertible fact, that the Jews in ail ages, until long after the time
of Jesus Christ, viewed all these prophecies, however apparently con**
tradiptory and irreconcilable, as referring to one penon.
Mr. English continues his Jewish objections: «< 8. As to the
time; we object to the Christians, that Jesus did not come at the
time designated by tiie prophets. For the prophets testify that the
SE 43 . 3
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888 BivjlNb authority AND
coming of the Messiah should he ^ in the end of deye" or in the lot'
ter days, (which surely have not yet arriTed) as it is in Isa« ch. iL
** It shall come to pass in the latter daysj that the mountain of Uie
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and att
naOane shall flow unto it," and it immediately follows concerning the
king Messiah, **that he shall judge among the nations, and rebuke
many peof^, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning*hooks." Bee also Hosea, ch« iii. and
also Dan. ch. it. where it is written, ** Gk>d hath made known unto
king Nebuchadnezzar what shall eome to paee in the latter daye^^*
[or, in the end of days.] And this pertains to what f<^ws, viz. to
tills, ««In the days of those kings [i. e. of the kingdoms that arose
out of the ndne of the Roman empire] the Qod of HeaTen will
raise up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.'' .Thus yoU
see, that the prophets predicted, tiiat the kingdom of the Messiah
should be after the destruction of the Roman empire, not while ii
woe in ite vigor; when Jeetie came; in *< the latter daffs^** and not
before.
4. Besides all these difficulties, neither were die promises made to
US by the prophets concerning the things to come to pass at the eom-
ing of the Messiah fulfilled in the time of Jesus. For examples,
take the following. 1. In the time of the king Messiah Uiere.wae
to be oite kingdom only, and one only king upon earth, viz. the king
Messiah; see Dan. ch. ii. But behold, we see with our eyes many
independent kingdoms^ distinct, and distinguished by different laws,
and customs, religious and political, which tilings being so, it follows,
that the Messiah is not yet come.
. 3. In the time of the king Messiah there was to be only one reSr
gUnu and one law throughout the world. For it is written in Isaiah,
ch. Iii. and Jvi. that qU nations shall come at stated times to worship
Jehovah at Jerusalem ; see also Zeehariah, ch. xiv. and ch. viiL and
indeed throughout the writings of the prophets.
8. In the time of the king Messiah, idols were to be cut off, and
utteriy to perish from the earth, as it is said in Zeehariah, ch. xiiL and
so in Isa. ch. ii. it is written, **And the gioiy of idols shall utterly
pass away," and so in Zephaniah, ch. ii. «< The Lord shall be terri*
ble among them, when he shall make lean [i. e. bring to nothing] all
tiie gods of the eartii, and ail the countries of the nations shall bow
themselves to him, each out of his place."
4. In the times of the Messiah there shall obtain no more sins and
crimes in the earth, especially among the chUdien of Israel, as is a^
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. t89
firmed in Deot oh. xxx. Zephaniah, ch. iii and in Jeremiah, ch. iii.,
and 1. and to also in Ezekiel, ch. xzxvi. and xxxTii.
5. In the times of the Measiah there shall he peace between man
and beast, and between the tiger and the tame beast And the little
ehild shall stroke with impnnitj the variegated skin of the serpent,
[and as one of our own poets has beautifully toid, ««and with his
forked tongue shall innocendy play ;" see in Is. ch. li. and Izv. the
original from whence he derived his beautiful poem.]
6. In the time of the king Messiah there are to be no calamities,
no afflictions, no lamentations throughout the world. But the inhab-
itants thereof are to lead joyful lives in gratitude to the good God,
and in the enjoyment of his bounties, see Is. Ixv.
Lastly, In the time of the king Messiah, the g^ory of God was
again to return to Israel, and the Spirit of the Most High God was to
be liberally poured out upon them, and they were to be endowed with
the spirit of prophecy, and with wisdom, and knowledge, and under*
standing, and virtue, and God will no more hide his face from them ;
but will bless them, and give them a ready heart, and a willing mind
to obey his laws, and enjoy the felicities consequent thereupon. And
the Schechinah Bhsll inhabit the temple /orever, and the glory of
God shaU never depart from Israel; but they sh^ walk amid the
splendors of the glory of Jehovah, and all the earth shaU resound
with his praise, as is written in Ezech. ch* xxzvii. and zxxix. and
zliii. and in Joel, eh. ii. and in Zech. ch. ii. and in Is. ch. zi. and
throughout the loiter part of kU prophecies^ and in Jer. zzxiv.
And now. Christian reader 1 let me ask you this question, has any
one of the foregoing prophecies been yet fulfilled, either in the days
of Jesus f or ever since? Thou canst not say it! Now then, hear
the conclusion which in sincerity, and with the hand upon the heart,
I am compelled to draw from these precedents. * Since these dis*
tinctive characteristics predicted by the Hebrew prophets, as to be
found in their Messiah, were certainly^ and evidently ^ never found in
Jesus^ and since these conditions and circumstances^ and many oth-
ers beside, which to avoid prolixity have been omitted, most assured-
ly did not take place in the time of Jesus, nor ever stnce, and since
they were, according to those prophets, certainly to be expected in the
time of' their Messiah, therefore, from all this it seems to be demons
strable (idlowing the prophets to be true,) that Jesus of Nazareth
was not this true Messiah.* " *
* Engliflh'f Ground of Chriftiamty Examined, pp. 69— 6S.
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t40 DIYHiE AUTHOSTTY AND
. To these otjections it is replied, that while nothing is moie eeiNly
proved than that the prophets did predict that the Messiah would ap*
pear at the very time when Jesus Christ was horn into the world,
and that at that time the Jews were anxiously awaitinf his appear-
anoe ; yet it is admitted that the prophets also foretold a coming of
the Messiah «< in the end of the eUn/e" or in the btter days, which
have not yet arrived. It is further conceded that Daniel did foretell
that the Messiah would set up his kingdom upon the ruins of the
kingdoms which now are exutingt and which, have grown up out
of the ruins of the Roman empire ; hut it by no means follows that
these concessions are subversive of the claims of the New Testament
So far from this, as will yet be shown» tiie claims of the New Testa-
ment as a Revelation from God ^re thereby confirmed and establish-
ed. But these apparently discordant and irreconcilable statementSt
are of the same nature with those already noticed, and it is maintain*
ed and shall be proven that all the predictions concerning the Mes*
siah cluster around and centre in Jesus Christ, the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, who shall yet, upon the destruction of all
earthly sovereignty, set up a kingdom which sliall continue forever ;
when, throughout the whole world, there will« be only <* one religiaa
and one law;" when **the glory of idols shall utterly pass away;'*
when «> all the gods of the earth, and all the countries of the nations,
shall bow themselves to i&n, each out of his place ;** when there
shall obtain no more sins and crimes in the earth, espemally among
the children of Israel, as is affirmed in Deuteronomy, Zephaniah, and
Jeremiah; when affliction and lamentation shall be banished from
the world, and '* the inhabitants thereof shall lead joyful lives in grat*
itude to the' good God, and in the enjoyment of his bounties ;" and
when «« the glory of God " will *« return to Israel, and the Spirit of die
Most High God" will ««be liberally poured out upon them," and
they shall " be endowed lyith the spirit of prophecy, and with wis*
dom, and knowledge, and understanding, and virtue^" and «* God
shall no more hide his face from them ; but will bless them, and give
ihem a ready heart, and a willing mind to obey his laws, and enjoy
the felicities consequent thereupon. And the Schechinah shall inhabil
the temple forever, and the glory of ihe Lord shall never depart from
Israel." All of which wonderful and glorious predictions have been
delivered concerning Prince Messiah ; but because they have not as
yet been fulfilled, Mr. English, united with the Jews in rejecting
Christ, abandoned the ministry of ihe Gospel, and set up as the ad-
vocate of Infiddity.
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IN8PIRATI0N OF THE SCRIPTURES. 341
PlaiiBible and specious as the argument of Mr. English is, and ad-
mirably as it is calculated to cheat the ignorant and the unwary into
the belief of a falsehood involving their eternal destinies, yet when
brought in contact, not indeed with the opinions of men concerning
the future state of the Church, but with the annunciations of the
Scriptures, it will be seen to be utterly worthless, and destitute of any
foundation in truth.
We now proceed, by an appeal to the prophecies of ihe Old Tes-
tament Scriptures, to vindicate the claims of Jesus Christ as the true
Messiah; and matters of indisputable fact prove beyond all reasona-
ble doubt, that he was the illustrious personage of whom it was said
to Abraham, «< In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
The very fact, that this promise was given to Abraham, and that
upon it the whole Jewish economy was founded, and that its accom-
plishment was the great end to be promoted by the distinction and
separation of the Israelites from all the nations of the earth, clearly
prove that that dispensation was only preparatory to another, and a
better. It was adapted and limited to one particular people ; its moral-
ity was incomplete, and its ritual observances, as already frequently
observed, were numerous, oppressive, and devoid of any inherent
merit Yet this system was the best #hich possibly can be conceived
of, in the then condition of mankind, to keep up the knowledge>of God,
and to pave the way for the universal and spiritual worship of that glo-
riotis Being, whose right it is to be adored and obeyed by all his intel-
ligent creatures. To this great end the Jewish religion was subservi-
ent, yet it could not of itself accomplish it. Bat all its institutions
pointed to the promised seed by whom mankind were to be brought
back to their allegiance to the God of heaven, and as a Consequence,
to a state of universal happiness. These were the great themes of
the prophets, to which all others were Bubservient ; and that they all
centre in Christ and his kingdom, every candid enquirer must be con-
vinced, who gives to this subject that examination which its vast
importance demands. This interesting subject has been fully dis-
cussed by many able divines, to whose works the reader is referred:
our limits necessarily confine us to a very summary view, which must
be both imperfect and incomplete. Yet it is believed, that limited as
the argument must necessarily be, a sufficiency of testimony will be
adduced to satisfy every honest and reasonable enquirer that Jesu« is
the Son of God, the Messiah fbretold by all the prophets.
Two comings of Messiah are clearly pointed out by the prophets,
viz. his first and his second coming, which, like many of the other
8b2 2
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DnmfB AUTHORITY' AMD
ptopheeies eoneeniiqg him* at first sif ht» leem e(mtndictory md
ineeoDcUible. Jews Christ alleged that he was the Messiah, and
appealed to the- testimonjr of the prophecies in attestati<m of tha
Tallditj of his elaiins. To the Jews, he said, ** I am not come of
myself, hot he that sentone is tme, whom ye know not Bat I know
him; for I am finom him, and he hath sent me." Again 1m said: «« I|
is written in yonr law, that the testimony of two men is tme. I am
one that bear witness of m3rself, and the Father that sent me beareth
witness of me." While he thus maintained that he was that illastri*
OQs personage, predioted by the prophets, so far (torn asserting that
all the prophedes concerning the coming of Messiah were then
lU^complished, or to be accomplished about that time, in the most
pnUic manner he declared that he would ascend up into heaTen»
firom whence he would come again to set up that kingdom which
die prophets had dedared in the latter days should be est^lished on
the earth. When closing his public ministry his last words to his
unbdieriog countr3rmen contain a positive declaration that he would
come again, and in the most public manner. **.0 Jerusalem, Jemsa*
lem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent
unto th^, how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gatherethlier chickens under her wings, andya would
not Behold, your house is left unto you desolate ; few I say unt»
you, ye shall not ne me hmcrforthf HU ye ehatt eof/f Bleeeed ie he
that cameth in the name of the Lord." The saying, «« Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord," is taken from Psalm czviiL
whusb, the Jews themselves viewed as a prophecy relating to the
Messiah, and in which are these remarkable words: *«The stone
which the bhilders refused, is become the head of the oomer," and
which Jesus Christ had brought to bear upon the chief priests and
scribes when they deprecated the taking the vineyard from the un-
faithful husbandmen. That Jesus Christ designed the last words,
which as a public teacher he addressed te the Jews, to dedare his
second coming, is evident from the impression made by them upon
the minds of his disciples, and from the language <^ Ofajrist himsdf ;
for immediately afk^rwaids, upon retiring to the mount of Olives,
they enquired d him, saying, « Tell us, what shall be the sign if
thy comkigy* Upon which Jesus proceeded to predict the interve-
ning events, and then adds : *< Then shall appear the sign <^ the Son
of Man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth maom,
9nd they ehall'eu the Son of dim coming in the ebude of Aeooen,
with power and great glory.** Now it is at once conceded that if the
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INSPIlliTION OF THE SCmPTURES. Mt
pridietioiis of the prophetf in rehtioii lo the time of the advent of the
Meeaiah, hie person, chaimoter and woiksy found no accomplishment
in Jesus Christ, or if his annunciations concerning his second coming
and kingdom be in opposition to the declarations of the prophets,
then his allegation ** the Father beareth witness of me,'* is untrue,
consequently he is not the true Messiah* But if it shall appear, that
in numerous pointed and particular prophecies in rdation to time, and
minute circumstances, which human sagacitj could neither have fore-
seen nor conjectured, with most singular exactness, found an accom*
l^hment in Christ ; if it be proved that he himself was a true pro-
phet, and if his own predictions concerning his second coming, so far
fiom being in opposition to, are, in every respect, in strict accordance
with the declarations of the prophets, then, on every principle of rea-
son and common sense, we were bound to admit that Jesus Christ
was that iUustrious personage around whom all the prophets shed the
beams of their united light.
Firsi— The Jew and the Infidel object to the claims of Jesus Christ
as the true Messiah, diat he did not come into the world at the Hme
assigned by the prophets. But in the Old Testament his coming is
defined by a number of concurring circumstances which fix it to the
very date of the advent of Christ When Jacob, immediately before
his departure from the world, gathered around him all his sons, to
give to each of them his last blessing, and, by the spirit of propheeyt
to foretell what, in the after ages of the world, should befall their de-
scendants; concerning Judah he delivered this remarkable prediction:
** The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be-
tween his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering
of the people be."* According to the date fixed in this predictionf
the time of the coming of Shiloh was not tt> exceed die period when
the descendants of Judah were to be a united people, with a king
rmgning over them, governed by iheir own laws, and their judges ap-
pointed from among their brethren. When Jesus Christ was bom in
Bethlehem, a king reigned over the Jews, who resided in among them ;
they were then governed by their own laws, and the council of their
nation then exercised its authority. Previous to that time, however,
all the other tribes were dispersed, and they were lost among the other
nations. None bu^ Judah remained, and from him the last sceptre in
Inrael had not yet departed. But in the twd/Ui year of his age, the very
3rear Jesus appeared publidy in the temple disputing with the doctors,
•Gen.ziix.10.
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844 DIVINB AUTHOHITY AND
AichfilBiis, who was then king, was dethroned and banished ; Coponi*
lis was Appointed procurator, and the kingdom of Judea was debased
into a part of the province of S3rTia. Then the sceptie was smitten
from the hapds of the tribe of Jndah, their glory departed, and in a
▼ery short time afterward their commonwedth was destroyed, and
they have ever since .been scattered among the nations of the earthy
still retaining the name, but no longer a nation.
Malachi gives another standard by which the time of the advent of
Messiah may be measured : his language is, «* jBehold I send my
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall come suddenly to his temple, even . the messen-
ger of the covenant whom ye delight in; behold he shall come, saith
the Lord of Hosts." * This language clearly refers to the coming of
Messiah, and it clearly implies that he should appear in the temple
at Jerusalem before its destruction. It is worthy of particular notice
that Malachi was the last of the prophets. When his prophecies
were delivered the vision and the prophecy were sealed up, then the
canon of the Old Testament was closed. Although many had pre-
ceded, no prophet followed afler him ; ' yet, from the time of the
annunciatioii of this prophecy, the Jews, both of ancient and modem
times, have expected a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord im*
mediately before his coming, iltoce also the false Christs who have
appeared, have had their forerunners. In this capacity, as we have
seen, the famous Rabbi Akiba acted for the impostor Goziba when
he set'up as the long expected Messiah.^ No prophet appeared among
the Jews for the space of about four hundred years from the time of
Malachi. But agreeably to the prediction, at the dose of that period
another prophet appeared, and as the forerunner of Messiah, who said
of himself ** I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ]nepare
ye the way of the. Lord, make his path straight." t And as has
been already shown, the testimony of Josephus confirms the account
given in the Scriptures of John the Baptist t Also, agreeably to the
prediction, Jesus Christ appeared while the temple was yet standing;
but soon after his death it was razed to the ground, and not one stone
lefl upon another ; and when this was accomplished, every mark diat
denoted the coming of Messiah was erased, and conld not afto
that period be renewed.
The prof^et Daniel not only declares that Messiah should make
his advent during the time of the fourth monarchy 9 or Roman <
* Mai iu. 1. f Muk 18. t iom^ Ant 17, ch. ziiL
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INSPIRATION OF THB SCBIPTUBEa SM
firet Imt 1m plainly intimates the nomber of years tint were to pw
cede his ooming. His language ia, ** Serenty weeks are determined
opon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sin» and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the ?inon and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and under-
stand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be se?en weeks,
and threescore, and two weeks." * Among tiie Jews it was custom*
ary to compute by weeks of years, and eyery seyenth was a sabbati-
cal year; according to this mode of computation, seventy weeks
amounted to four hundred and ninety years. So that in this prophe-
cy, Daniel pdints out the predse time when the Messiah sh<mld ap-
pear, and does away all ambiguity by calling him by name «* JIfes-
riah the Princt*^^ This prediction found a most exact fulfillment in
Jesus Christ. And it is a remarkable feet, that at this remote period
vtry UttU discrepancy of opinion exists among the most learned men in
relation to the space of time which intervened between the passing of
the edict to rebuild Jerusalem, afVer the Babylonish captivity, to the
commencement of the Ghristiaii era, and the subsequent events fi>ro»
told in die prophecy." Thus by an appeal to prophecies of the Old
Testament, in ^hich the time when Messiah should appear is deaily
defined, it has been demonstrated that these prophecies found their
accomplishment in Jesus Ohrist. Therefore the objection urged by
the Jews and Mr. English the Infidel, that Jesus did not come at the
time the prof^ets foretold Messiah should appear, is destitute of any
foundation in truth. Intimately connected With this part of the sub-
ject, are the prophecies concerning the family from which the Messi-
ah should spring, and the place of his birtl|. And thus all confirm
the claim of Jesus Christ to be the true Messiah : who was to be an
Israelite of the tribe of Judah, and the family of David. The two
former of these particulars are implied in the promise made to Abra-
ham ; in the prediction of Moses ; in the prophetic benediction of
Jacob to Judah ; and in the reason assigned for the superiority of
that tribe ; because out of it the chief ruler should arise : and the
last in the prophecy of Isaiah, <« There shall come forth a rod of
the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of council and might, the spirit of know-
*Dn.iz.S4,S6.
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946 DIVINE AUTH0BI77 AIO)
ledge and of the fear of the Lord." * That this prophecy refeiv to
the Messiah is erident from the whole ef the succeeding chapter,
which is descriptive of the kingdom of Messiah, of the calling of Uie
Gentiles, and of the restoration of Israel. Many other prophecies
are to the same effect, some of which will be adverted to hereaRer*
That Jesus Christ was an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, and of the
fiunily and lineage of David, we have the fullest evidence in the testimo-
ny of the evangelists, two of whom have given his genealogy, the one
by natural, and the. other by legal succession. So that these prophe-
cies found their accomplishment in Jesus Christ; and, further, con-
firm his claims as the true Messiah.
The place of the birth of the Messiah was foretold by the prophet
Micah : «« Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though t^u be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he oome forth nnto me«
that is to be Ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting."! This prediction found an exact accom-
plishment in Jesus Christ ; and the manner in which it was providen-
tially fulfilled is very striking. The residence of the parents of Christ
was distant from Bethlehem, but the providence of Qod so ordered it
tfiat Augustus should then order a general census to be taken, which
caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, not only that she might
be delivered there, but that their names might be entered and tbdir
£unily might be ascertained, and that no doubt might afterwards arise
as to their being of the line of David. So that here we have another
confirmation of the claim of Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.
Second— The Jews and the Infidel object that the chaimoter and
works of Jesus Christ aire not in accordance with those foretold by
the prophets of the Messiah. But the prophecies relating to the life
and character of the Messiah, which are drawn with the greatest pre-
cision, found an exact accomplishment in Jesus Christ Isaiah fbre-
tokl the works of Messiah : «« Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the
lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing."^ The
history of Jesus shows that such acts of mercy and benevolence
formed the frequent exercise of his power ; at his word the blind re-
ceived their sight, the lame walked, the deaf heard, and the dumb
spake.$ Isaiah foretold of Messiah, saying : •« Thus saith the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to him whom man despis-
ed, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings
*Im.zL1,S. fMicT.8. *lM.xzxT.6,e. ^MattzLfi.
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. g47
■hall flee and arise, princes also shall worship."* According to
this prophecy, Messiah was to be a servant, and to be despised
of men, and abhorred by his own nation ; and in these particulars
it found an accomplishment in Jesus Christ In the quotation of
Mr. English from the Jewish writings, it is urged against his claim
to foe the Messiah that he was t$ servant, and that he said of him-
self, " that he came to serve others, not to be served by them."
He was despised of men, for this was the language applied to him:
*\Is not this tiie son of the carpenter? Is not this the son of
Mary?" said they, and they were offended at him. To this day
he is abhorred by the Jewish nation. Yet many kings have acknow-
ledged his claims and devoutly worshiped him. Zechariah, prophe-
syhig of Messiah, says : «« Rejoice greatiy, O daughter of Zion, shout
O daughter of Jerusalem : behold thy king cometh unto thee : he is
just, and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a
colt the foal of an ass." t The evangelists testify of Jesus, that he
made his public entry into Jerusalem riding upon an ass, <* and the
multitudes that went before, and that followed after, cried, saying,
Hosanna to the Sonof David, blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord, hosanna in the highest" The same prophet prophesied
of the Messiah : " And I said unto them. If ye think good give me
my price, and if not forbear. So they weighed for my price, thirty
pieces of silver." % And the evangelists testify of Jesus Christ that
Judas betrayed him for thirty pieces of sUver. David represented
Messiah as sajring, <« They pierced my hands and my feet ; I may teQ
all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments
among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." $ David elsewhere re*
presents him as saying: *' They gave me also gall for my meat, and
in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." | The royal psalmist al-
so says of Messiah : *< Thou wUt not leave my soul in hell, (or in the
separate state,) neither wUt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corrup-
tion." f While these predictions admit of no application to the eVents^
of the life of any otiier individual, they were all literally fulfilled in
Jesus Christ
In a prophecy concerning the Messiah in Isaiah, chapter liii.,
he treats of the humiliation, the trials, and the agonies which were
to precede his triumphs, with the accuracy of a historian. The
later Rabbins have devised two contradictory methods to evade the
•In.zlix.7. tZech.ix.9. tZech.zilS.
^P«.zziL 16—18. IPlM.lziz.31. tP«.zvi.lO»
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348 BIYINB AXJTBOSSTY AND
■pplicatioa of iStns prophecy to Jemti ChriBt Ooe it, ai already
toted, the iiiTeiition of a double Meaeiah. The other ia, that Om
prophecy, in ita varioua particnlara, found ita accomplishment in the
Jewiih nation, who, according to them, were wounded for the tnma*
greaaiona of the rest of mankind, and bruiaed for their iniquitiea. But
alaa ! for the Jewa, the prophecy fmind no anch accompliahment, but,
for their own aina and flagrant tranagreaaiona, did the righteona judg-
ments of Almighty God orertake them, and to this their own prophet,
Daniel, teatifiea. In hia prayer to God, contained in chapter ix., he
aaya : «< We have ainned, and have committed iniquity, and have done
widiedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepta and
from thy judgmenta : Neither have we hearkened unto thy aervanta
Ae prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princea, and
our fathera, ^d to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousneaa
belongeth unto thee, but unto ua confoaion of faicea ; to the inhabitants
of Jeruaalem, and unto all Israel, that are near and that are aiar
off, tfirough all the countriea whither thou hast driven them, becau$9
iff their treepaes that they have treepassed agctmet thee.^^ To the
Jews, therefore, the prophecy has no application whatever; but in ita
ev^ particular it has found a moat exact fhlflllment in Jesus Christy
and all Aat ia neceaaary to convince the most sceptical is to subjoin to
4ie prophecy m few of the multitude of &e parallel pasaagea ia iba
New Teatament ^
**£b X8 despUed and rejected of men. He eame unto hia own*
and hia own recieved him not : he had not where to lay hia head ;
ttiey derided him. Jl man of sorrowe and acquainted with grirf*
Jeaua wept at the grave of Laxarus, he mourned over Jeniaalem, he
Mt the ingratitude and oruelQr of men, he' bore the contradieti<Hi of
ainnera against himself, and theae are expresaions of sorrow peculiar-
ly hia own : * Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; but
for this end came I into the world : my God ! my God I why haat
thou foraaken me T ' We hid^ ae it were^ our faces from him ; he wot
ieepindf and we esteemed him not. All hia diaciplea forsook him
and fled. Not this man, but Barabbas ; now Barabbas was a robber.
The aoldi^ra mocked him, and bowed the knee before him in deri-
abn« The catalogue of hia sufferings is continued in the words of
die prophecy. ** We did esteem him stricken^ smitten of Ood^ and
sfffHeted. He was wounded^ he was oppressedf he was t^ffUctedf he
was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; he was taken away by
distress and byjudgmenty And to this general description is united
the detail of minuter incidenU^ which fixea the fact of their applieation
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INSPIRATION OF THE 8CRIPTUKES. 849
to Jesu . «* He was cut off mU of the land of the living.'' He was
crucified in the flower of his age. << TT^ey (the people) made hU
grave with the wicked^ but he was with the rich after his death.''
Joseph of Aramathea, a rich man, went and begged the body of Jesus
and laid it in his own new tomb, <* He was numbered with the
transgressors." He was crucified between two thieves. *' IBs vis-
age was so marred^ more than any man's, and his form more than
the sons of men." Without any direct allusion made to it, but in lit-
eral fulfillment of the prophecy— the bloody sweat, the traces of the
crown of thorns, his having been spit on, and smitten on the head, dis-
figured the face ; while the scourge, the nails in his hands and in his
feet, and the spear that pierced his side, marred the form of Jesus
more than the sons of men."
Dr. Keith, to whom we are indebted for this and the preceding
paragraph, says: "That the circumstantial and continuous descrip-
tion of the Messiah's sufierings might not admit of any ambiguity, —
the dignity of his person — the incredulity of the Jewsr— the innocence
of the sufierer — the cause of his sufierings, and his consequent exalta-
tion, are all particularly marked, and are equally applicable to the
doctrine of the GospeL *' He shall be exalted and extolled, and
be very high; who hath believed our report, and' to wham is the
arm of .the Lard revealed? For he shall grow up as a tender
plant,*' d&c. The mean external condition of Christ is here assigned
as the reason (one reason) of the unbelief of the Jews, and it was the
very reason which they themselves assigned. The prediction points
but the procuring cause of his sufierings. ^^He hath borne our
griefs, he hath carried our sorrows. Christ was once ofiered to
bear the sins of many. He was wounded for our trangressions ; he
was bruised for our iniquities; the cliastisement of our peace was
upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. His own self bare
our sins in his body on the tree, that we being dead unto sin, should
lite unto righteousness ; by whose stripes we are healed. M we
like sheep have gone astray, and have turned every one to his oum
way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. All flesh
have sinned ; ye were as sheep going astray, but ye are now returned
unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. He had done no via-
lence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth ; thou shall make
his said an offering for sin; God made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin." ♦
* Keith on the Propheciefl, pp. 35, 87.
3F
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850 DIVINE AUTHORmr AND
Surely the exact folfillment of all the particulars of this prophecy in
Jesus Christ should be sufficient of itself to convince even the most
sceptical, for it describes his debasement and his dignity ; his humility,
his affliction, and his agony ; his magnanimity, and his charity ; the
unbelief of the Jews, his lowly estate, the severity of his sufferings,
his meekness, opening not his mouth but to make intercession for the
transgressors. It describes, foUy, innocence suffering by the appoint-
ment of heaven ; the righteous servant of the Most High enduring that
death which was due to the guilty, and while 3rielding a perfect obe-
dience, forsaken of God. And as the consequence of his sufferings
and ^orifice he is represented as sprinkling many nations firom their
iniquities, justifying many by his knowledge, and dividing a portion
with the great, and the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured
out his soul in death. Therefore this prophecy is sufficient of itself,
deariy to demonstrate how baseless is the objection of the Jews and
the Infidel, that the works and character of Jesus were not in accord-
ance with the predictions of the prophets. It presents to us a narra-
tive of the G^pel in its most striking features ; consequendy, on a
most firm basis it establishes that great truth, Jesus Christ is the Mes-
siah, the Son of God; he to whom ^\\ the prophets bare witness, and
in whom all theiir prophecies centre. In ancient times its simple ex-
position converted an Ethiopian eunuch, and in modem times it wns
instrumental in saving from perdition the celebrated John Wilmot,
Earl of Rochester, a man ** whom the muses were fond to inspire
and ashamed to avow," who was one of the most abandoned, insidi-
ous, and successful of the advocates of impurity, the result of his
Atheism, combined with his genius ; but who, agreeably to the testi-
mony of Bishop Burnet, died the death of a penitent Christian, die
oonsequence of his unfeigned faith in him ** who was wounded for his
transgressions, and by whose stripes he was healed." Having clearly
demonstrated the fallacy and unreasonableness of the Jewish and
Infidel objections against the Messiahship of Christ, we might here
dose the argument; but ^at every shadow of objection may be re-
moved, and the unreasonableness of Infidelity may be thoroughly
exposed, we now proceed to show that Jesus Christ was himself a
true prophet, and that his predictions concerning his second coming,
and the kingdom which he should establish in the latter days, are in
perfect accordance with the annundations of the prophets of the Old
Testament One prediction we have already considered, that of his
own death and resurrection, and we have seen that he accomplished
the prophecy.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. JM
Mr. English urges against the claims of Jesus as the Messiah that
passage : ** Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I am
come not to send peace hut a sword." * And he maintains that this
declaration proves the nature of his kingdom was the very opposite
of that predicted by the prophets, which was to be a kingdom of
peace. The passage is a prophecy, and its elucidation will shew, that
Jesus was a true prophet, and that he himself is the Prince of Peace.
And be it noticed, that the passage does not announce the design of the
introduction of Christianity, but a result which would be produced
by human perverseness. Christianity, in its nature and tendencies, is
emphatically peace. But Jesus knowing what was in man, and fore-
seeing the disastrous consequences (altogether chargeable upon man,)
that would follow its introduction, declared that he came to send a
sword ; that is, he was about to introduce into the world a principle,
against which the animosities of human nature would be excited*
thereby producing discord and bloodshed. Christianity was no soon-
er introduced into the world than it commenced an attack upon the
superstition of mankind, and its design and tendency was, to dethrone
that heathenism which for so many ages had held undisputed sway
over the hpman mind. In this glorious enterprise it had to contend
with the excited passions and powers of the whole heathen world,
who, in defence of a system bequeathed by a long ancestry, and which
every lust was interested in upholding, made fierce efforts to crush it
by crushing its advocates. Then Satan batded for an empire, which
Christianity designed to wrench out of his hands ; and in his efforts to
sustain his dominion, and if possible to crush for ever the very name
of the crucified, scenes of blood were exhibited, which to the very
letter bore out the prediction of Jesus Christ. But when Christianity
had mastered heathenism so far that the Roman empire became tX
least nominally Christian ; so far from the sword being sheathed, such
was its nature and its tendency, that in its struggles for victory over
the evil dispositions and wicked practices of men, the darkest pages
of the human history is that on which are recorded the crimes and
cruelties which have sprung from the religious differences of Christ-
endom. Thereby many a land has been converted into a battle plain,
and the advocates of truth have been marked for the stake and the
scaffold ; therefore the multitudes who have been immolated upon the
altars of bigotry and intolerance, verify the prediction of Christ, and
prove that Christianity has been a sword to Christendom itself.
*Mittz.d4.
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852 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
Nor was the accompliflhment of the prediction confined to the days
of heathen persecution and Roman Catholic intolerance, but to this
day it is being accomplished. Christ said, ** I am come to set a son
at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.'* In this land so high-
ly favored, the profession of Christianity exposes to no public dan-
ger. Here the magbtracy interferes with men's worship only to pro-
tect ; yet who is ignorant that a vast amount of private persecutions
are endured, which the laws of the land neither prescribe, nor yet
can they prevent* How often does it happen that when genuine pie-
ty is introduced into a household, unhappiness and discord ensue ? Is
it not often the case that to all appearance the peace of a family is bro-
ken up by religion, and that a profession of the faith of Jesus is con-
sidered as tantamount to rebellion against the authority of a parent T
Then the prediction of Christ is verified to the letter, the parents
being set against the children, and the children against the parents,
and the accomplishment of the prophecy proves that the founder of
Christianity came forth from God.
The fulfillment of the prophecy, however, is far from proving that
the author of Christianity is not the Prince of Peace. It is conceded
that Christianity has been the occasion of some portion of human
misery ; but when it is arraigned as having increased the misery of
mankind, in the language of the eloquent Melvill, **0 then we have
our appeal to the splendid institutions of civilized states, to the bul-
warks of liberty which they have bravely thrown up, to the structures
which they have reared for the shelter of the sufiering, and to their
mighty advancings in equity, and science, and good order, and great-
ness. We show you the desert blossoming as the rose, and all be-
cause ploughed by the sword Christianity. We show you every chain
of oppression fiying into shivers, and all because struck by the sword
Christianity. We show you the coffers of the wealthy bursting open
for the succor of the destitute, and all because touched by the sword
Christianity. We show you the human intellect springing into man-
hood, reason starting from dwarfishn»ss and assuming magnificence
of stature, and all becadse roused by the glare of the sword Christiani-
ty. Ay, if you can show us feuds and jealousies, and wars and mas-
sacres, and charge them home on Christianity as a cause, we can
show you whatsoever is confessed to minister most to the welfare,
and glory, and strength, and happiness of society, is stamped with
one broad impress, the sword Christianity; and, therefore, are we
bold to declare that the amount of temporal misery has been immeai ur-
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 858
ably diminished by the propagation of the religion of Jesus ; and that
this sword, in spite of produced slaughter and divisions, has been and
still is a golden sceptre, beneath which the tribes of our race have found
a rest which heathenism knew only in its poetry ; a freedom, and a se-
curity, and a greatness, which philosophy reached only in its dreams." *
Christianity is emphatically peace, but it is easy to account for it9
being turned into a sword. It inculcates all that is amiable, lovely,
and excellent ; its direct tendency is to elevate both the mental and
moral character of its votaries, and nothing more is necessary to se-
cure the universal happiness of the human race but its cordial recep-
tion ; and were all men governed by its precepts, the nations of the
earth would be virtually a family of affectionate brethren. But in
man there is that which is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel ; and
when a person becomes a genuine votary of Christianity, at all times
and under all circumstances regulating his conduct by its precepts, he
is marked off from his fellows. The separation between him and them
is a separation of principles, and his conduct unavoidably reproves
that of those he has left; and he who knows anything of the workings of
the human heart must perceive that enmity must ensue, which, when
it exits, is certain in some way or other to show itself in open demon*
stration, and thus it is that Christianity is turned into a sword. And
so long as there is enmity in the heart of man to the holiness of the
Gospel of Christ, there remains a moral impossibility against the un-
broken peace of a family, a community, or a natioQ composed of
those who are influenced by principles at war with each other. The
two parties possess .different natures, they serve under the banners of
different masters, who are intent upon the destruction the one of the
other. In the very nature of things there must be war between the
kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, and that war cannot
end until all moral evil is expelled from the human family. When
that great achievement is effected, then there will be peace. And this
being the aim and tendency of Christianity, with the greatest proprie-
ty it is called the Gospel of Peace, and its author the Prince of Peace,
whose final victory was predicted by all the seers of Israel. The na-
ture and tendency of Christianity, therefore, is in exact accordance
with the predictions, of the prophets, and the fulfillment of that saying
of its author, «* I came not to send peace but a sword,'* demonstrates
that he was the Son of God, the true Messiah.
Many other prophecies were delivered by Jesus Christ, which hav-
* Mellvill's Sennoiif, vol; L pp. S4, S6.
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854 DIVINE AUTHORITY AND
ing found an exact accomplishment, confirm his claims as tfie trae
Messiah. He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and of its cele>
brated temple, with all its preceding signs, and concomitant and sub-
sequent circumstances, which in the minutest details found an exact
accomplishment. He predicted that he would have a church and
people down to the remotest generations of mankind ; and thus far in
the history of the human race his prophecy has been accomplished.
But on these subjects we must not dwellj but refer the reader to the
many excellent works of pious and- learned men, who wrote at large
upon the prophecies and their fulfillment
Bdt before we close we must notice the objection urged by the Jews
and Infidel, that the kingdom of Messiah was not to be estabHished du-
ring the existence of the fourth monarchy, when Jesus Christ appeared,
but while those kingdoms existed which sprung up out of the ruins
of the Koman empire. We have already seen, that the prophets did
predict that Messiah would come while the fourth monarchy was in
existence, and that the same prophet (Daniel) who foretold '*In the
days of these last king^ (the present existing kingdoms) the God of
heaven shall set up another kingdom which shall never be removed,"
«lso predicted that from the going forth of the commandment to build
and restore Jerusalem, unto Messiah, should be four hundred and
eighty-three years, which found an exact accomplishment in Jesus
Christ And so far from the claims of Jesus coming in collision with
the annunciation concerning the kingdom which is to be set up in the
latter days, he attests the truthfhhiess of the prophet by predicting the
same event, and at the time specified by Daniel ; for when replying to
the question (^ his disciples, when they said, ** Tell us, what shall be
the sign of thy coming?*' after announcing the great tribulation which
is to befall mankind in th^ latter days, he says : <« Then shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and ihen shall all the tribes of
the eulh mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."*
He also says : <* When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his
glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall sepa-
rate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats ; and he shall set the sheep onr'his right hand, but the goats on
• Mttthew xriv. 80, 31.
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INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 855
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye bleseed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the worid." * Something of Uie nature of that king-
dom may be learned from what he elsewhere says to his disciples.
** Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that ye who have fol-
lowed me — ^in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the
throne of his glory — ye also shall set upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.'* t To that coming and kingdom Jesus re-
ferred in the last words uttered by him at the close of his public
ministry, *' Ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say. Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." As already stated, this
passage was taken from a psalm which the Jews themselves held to
be a prophecy of Messiah ; and the words evidently imply a predic-
tion by Christ, that tlie Jewish nation would again see him, but not
till prepared to give him their allegiance, so that while announcing the
misery they were bringing upon themselves, and the protracted infi-
delity to which they would be consigned, Christ also announced that
a time would come, when they, as a nation, would delightedly receive
the very person they were then about to crucify. This prediction
is in accordance witti his prophecy concerning his second coming, in
Luke : Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, vntil the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. In the first mentioned prediction,
Christ announced to the Jews, that their house should be left imto ,
them desolate until the time should come when they would ** say,
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." So in this he
announces that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles,
not for ever, but, " untU the times of the OentUes be fnlfiOed." So
that in these prophecies Jesus Christ announces that a time will come
when Israel will be no more cast off; when Jerusalem shall no more
sit desolate, mourning her banished ones, and trodden down of the
Gentiles. Are these annunciations in opposition to those of the Old
Testament prophets ? Nay, rather are they not m perfect accordance
with them ? for has not Isaiah said : <* The great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come which were ready to pensh in the land of. Assy-
ria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord
in the holy Mount at Jerusalem ? Has not the same prophet said of
Jerusalem, ** The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their
kings shall minister unto. thee ; for in my wrath I smote thee, but in
my favor have I had mercy on thee T"
« Matthew zdv. 81—34. f Ibid. xiz. 88.
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356 DIVINE Ain*HOBITY AND
The apostle JohjD, by the spirit of prophecy, aimannces the second
ooming of Messiah, and he describes the kingdom which in the latter
days shall be established upon the earth: *< And I saw hearen open-
ed, and behold a white horse ; and he that sat apon him toot called
Faithful and Trae; and in righteousness he doth judge and make
war : His ejee were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many
crowns ; and he had a name written that no man knew but he him-
self: And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood : and his
name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white
and dean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that "with it
he should smite the nations ; and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron : and he treadeth the wine>press of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God. And he hath on hie vesture, and on his thigh a name
written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I
saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice,
saying to all the fowls that fiy in the midst of heaven. Come and
gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that
ye may eat the fiesh of, kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh
of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them^
and the flesh of all fneUf both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him diat sat on the horse, and
against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the folse
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast and them diat worship-
ed his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burn-
ing Mrith brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword
of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his
mouth : and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
And I saw an angel come down firom heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold
on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit,
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the
nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after
that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and / saw the
souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and (or
the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither
his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
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INSPIRATION OP THE SCRIPTURES. 857
their hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This U the first resurrection.'* *
These prophecies of the second coming and kingdom of Christ, so
far from being in opposition to the declarations of the prophets of the
Old Testament, evidently refer to the same events, and are in perfect
accordance with their annunciations. Isaiah describes the future con-
dition of Jerusalem in the following language : ** Awake, put on thy
strength, O Zion ; put on thy beautifiil garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
city ; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncir-
cumcised and the unclean.** t And the same prophet says, ** Keep
Bot silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make
Jerusalem a praise in the earth." The coming of Messiah, the de-
sign of it, and the enemies to be encountered, are all announced by the
prophet Zechariah ; and it is most manifest that his prophecy and that
of the apostle John point out the same events. (<I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and
the houses rifled, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against these nations. And
his feet shall stand in that day upon the moimt of Olives, which is
before Jerusalem on the east : and the mount of Olives shall cleave
in the midst thereof, towards the east and towards the west. And
the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day shall there be
one Lord, and his name one.** X .
When Jesus Christ had closed hia divine mission he ascended
from the movnt of Olives. And whilst the apostles "looked sted- '
lastly towards heaven, as he went up,** there stood by them two men
in white apparel, who told them that «* this same Jesus, who is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven.** In this passage there is a clear prophecy
that Jesus Christ shall return personally to the earth, and that, too,
in like manner as he departed, and the words imply that his return*
shall be as predicted by Zechariah. Thus it appears that a com-
parison of the annunciations of the prophets of the Old Testament
concerning that kingdom which is to be established by Messiah upon
the earth in the latter days, with those of the New Testament rela-
tive to the second coming of Christ, and the kingdom he will then set
* Revelation xix. from verse 11 to verae 5 of ch. zz. f ladah IIL 1.
tZech.ch.xiv. 2, 3. 9.
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DIVINB AUTHOMTY AND
up, most eleuiy shows that both classes of predictions refer to the
same person and to the same kingdom.
Having, by an appeal to the prophets of the Old Testament, es-
tablished that great truth, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our
task is finished, our work is accomplished. We have shown, by
sound reasoning and demonstrative proofs that the persons who were
the authors of the Old aad New Testament dispensations performed
miracles, and predicted events, which human sagacity could neither
have foreseen, nor conjectured ; therefore it has been proved, that the
divine attestation was given to them as the servants of the Most High.
This being established, it follows as a necessary consequence, that the
Bible is a revelation from God, and however different may be the
opinions of men concerning the particulars of the system of religion
taught in it, there can be but one opinion concerning its divine origin^
and iht obligations we are under to receive it as a revelation of the
will of God concerning us, and to regulate our lives according to its
precepts.*
A word to the reader, and we are done. In attempting to vindicate
the claims of the Bible as a revelation from God, the argument has
been confined to the external evidences by which its claims are sup-
ported, and Httle or no notice has been taken of the internal evidences,
which are peculiarly clear and convincing. We have taken nothing
for granted, but have reasoned together, from die first line to the last.
The subject is one of no ordinary importance, but involving our pre-
sent happiness and eternal destinies. And as it is the office of reason
to distinguish between truth and error, to weigh the evidence which
can be adduced on both sides of a question, how important is it that
candid, impartial reason should now render an honest verdict! It can-
not be said that the writer has taken a one-sided view of the subject,
which has been under examination : for although he has not noticed
every senseless cavil which Infidels have advanced ; yet all the lead-
ing objections of the enemies of Revelation have been fairly stated,
and in the language of their authors. These objections have been
duly weighed, and in every instance answers made. The reader,
therefore, has before him both sides of this momentous question:
and in the language of the Infidel Hume, <* as a wise man proportions
his belief to the evidence," we call upon him to be governed by this
rule in coming to a decision. Should he act upon this principle, we
* The prophecy that Messiah should be bom of a Tirgin, has not been noticed,
because the proof of its fulfilknent in the person <^ Christ, rests upon the estahlish-
ment of his daim as the true Messiah.
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INSPIRATION OF THE 80RIPTUBE& UO
feel confident that the result must be an entire conviction that the at-
tacks of Infidelity upon the impregnable bulwarks of Revelation, only
exhibit the enmity, folly, and madness of its votaries. And that the
Bible, the more it is attacked, only shines the more brighdy, and that
the very objections of its enemies are converted into evidences of its
troth.
But if the reader have griven a different verdict, and he be not set-
tled down into absolute brutish Atheism, we beg leave to present to
his consideration, certain difficulties which it is presumed he will
find insuperable. If the Bible be not a Revelation from God, he can-
not tell, whether there are or are not more than one God; and if
for the sake of argument it be admitted that there is but one God,
there is no way by which he can attain to any knowledge of liis mo-
ral perfections ; there is no wiay by which he can learn how God is
to be worshiped by him, or whether he will accept of his worship
in any way it may be rendered unto him ; there is no way by whicl^
he can learn that God will pardon his iniquities ; and, however scep-
tical he may be, he cannot conceal from himself that he is a sinner,
and at least sometimes he must have forebodings of coming wrath ;
there is no way by which he can know what is to become of him
upon leaving this woild, whether he shall be annihilated, or be misera-
ble for ever ; there is no way by which he can learn, that God will
not punish his every vice, and to its full demerit The light of rea-
son teaches that God is infinitely wise ; (although it cannot bring us
to the knowledge of iiis moral attributes) can it be supposed that he
created a race of intelligent agents, and then turned them loose, with-
out givihg them the smallest hint on the important subjects just
stated?
There are other difficulties in which the Infidel is involved;
for instance, can he deny the fact of the itniversal dduge? If
he can, his achievement has to be accomplished in the face of all
testimony. If. he admit it, he must also admit that a divine revela-
tion has been made. It is the same with the denial or admission
of the fulfillment of prophecy. With respect to Christianity, dif-
ficulties increase upon him; for certainly he must himself ac-
knowledge that it requires a much more vehement effort of faith
to believe that Christ and his apostles were enthusiasts or impos-
tors, than to believe them to be the inspired messengers of God.
These, and other difficulties which might be stated, are of such a
character that he can never overcome them. Therefore, while in
direct opposition to all testimony, and the dictates of reason, he
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860 DIVINE AUTHOIITY ANT
rejects Reyelation as an impoetnre, let him never more brand the
Christian with an easy faith, settng that he himself is the Tery portent
of credulity.
Is the reader a young man, just entered upon the busy scenes of
life, and perhaps destitute of any fixed principles ? For such this work
has been chiefly prepared, and by one who knows from experience
the danger to which they are exposed ; having himself, for a time,
fallen a victim to the assertions and sophisms of the Infidel. And
to such the writer would affectionately say, that owing to a rash con-
fidence in their own capacities, in which the young and inexperi-
enced are prone to indulge, they are exposed to fall an easy prey
to the insidious Infidel, against whose insinuations or bold allega-
tions they may not be on their guard. Therefore, let such remem-
ber, that it is much more easy to insinuate and to assert, than to prove
that Christianity is not true. This, all the Infidels that have ever
lived have not been able to effect, and they never can ; for it is now
no idle boast to pay, that the argument against our holy religion has
never been framed, which has not been triumphantly refiited. There-
fore, let not such imagine that the Infidel is in the right because they
cannot prove him in the wrong, for the answer can be given, though
they may not be able to perceive it But would they be fortified
against all the attacks of Infidelity, let them seek that teaching which
is firom above, by which alone they can be brought to a firm and
steady faith in the Son of God, and by which alone they can appre^
hend the religion of Jesus Christ in a true light, which to him who
has been taught by the Spirit is all glorious to behold. To stimulate
such to make the prudent choice, let them bear in mind that Scripture
prophecy, and the signs of the times, loudly declare, that a fearfiil
confiict of antagonistieal principles in this highly favored land is
nigh, even at the door, which may issue for a Hmef in the almost
total ejectment of Christianity. Papacy and atheistical Infidelity are
at this moment making silent but rapid strides amongst us ; and those
who read these pages may live to see these great enemies of Christi-
anity form an unnatural coalition for the destruction of all that is
lovely and excellent in our civil and religious institutions. "VITith
these views, the writer could not close this work, without warning
and beseeching the young and inexperienced to be upon their guard
against the inroads of scepticism.
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APPENDIX.
StarkiI) an author of great eminence in the legal profession, in his
<* Practical Treatise on the Law of Evidbhcb,** under the head of
•* Force of Testimony," vol. 1. p. 471, appends the following note, than
which nothing can he more conclusive.
** In ohserving upon the general principles on which the credihility
of human testimony rests, it may not he irrelevant to advert to the sum-
mary positions on this subject advanced by Mr. Hume. He savs in his
Essay, vol. 2, sec. 10 : A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature ;
and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the
proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as
any argument from experience can possibly be imagined. As a matter
of abstract philosophical consideration, ffor in that point of view only
can the subject be adverted to in a work like this,) Mr. Hume's reason-
ing appears to be altogether untenable. In the first place, the very
basis of his inference is, that faith in human testimony is founded solely
upon experience ; this is by no means the fact ; the credibility of testi-
mony frequently depends upon the exercise of reason, on the effect of
coincidences in testimony , which, if collusion be excluded, cannot be ac-
counted for but upon the supposition that the testimony of concurring
witnesses is true ; so much so, that their individual character for vera-
city is frequently but of secondary importance, (fupra, 466.) Its credi-
bility also greatly depends upon confirmation by collateral circumstan-
ces, and on analogies supplied by the aid of reason as well as of mere
experience. But even admitting experience to be the basis, even the
sole basis, of such belief, the position built upon it is unwarrantable ;
and it is fallacious, for, if adopted, it would lead to error. The position
is, that human testimony, the force of which rests upon experience,
is inadequate to prove a violation of the laws of nature, which are es-
tablished by firm and unalterable experience. The very essence of
the argument is, that the force of human testimony (the efficacy of
which in the abstract is admitted^ is destroyed by an opposite, conflict-
ing, and superior force, derived also from experience. If this were so,
the argument would be invincible ; but the question is, whether mere
previous inexperience of an event testified is directlv opposed to hu-
man testimony, so that mere inexperience as strongly proves that the
thing is notf as previous experience of the credibility of human testimo-
ny proves that it is. Now a miracle, or violation of the laws of nature,
can mean nothing more than an event or effect never observed before ;
and on the other hand, an event or effect in nature never observed be-
fore is a violation of the laws 6f nature ; thus, to take Mr. Hume's own
example, Mt is a miracle that a dead man should come to life, because
that has never been observed in any age or country ;' precisely in the
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893 APPEinnx.
same sense, the production of m new metal from potash^ by means of a
powerful and TOwly-discovered a^nt in nature, and the first observed
desoent of meteoric stones were violations of th6 laws of nature ; they
were events which had never before been observed, and to the produc-
tion of wbdch the known laws of nature are inadequate. But none of
these events can, with the least propriety, be said to be ag^avut or c<m-
irary to the laws of nature in any other sense than that they have never
before been observed ; and tliat the laws of nature, as fiur as they were
previously known, were inadequate to their production. The proposi-
tion of Mr. Hume ought thes to be stated thus : Human testimony is
founded on experience, and is therefore inadequate to prove that of
which there has been no previous experience. Now, whether it be
plain and self-evident that the mere negation of experience of a partic-
ular fiMct necessarily destroys all faith in the testimony of those who as-
sert the fact to be true ; or whether, on the other hand, this be not to
confound the principle of belief with the tvhjtct matter to which it is to
be applied ; and whether it be not plainly contrary to reason to infer the
dutnwtion of an active principle of belief from the mere negation of e^-
perience^ which is perfectly consistent with the just operation of that
principle ; whether, in short, this be not to assume broadly that mere
inexperience on the one hand is necessarily superior to positive experi-
ence on the other, must be lefl to every man's understanding to decide.
The inferiority of mere negative evidence to that which is direct and
positive, is, it will be seen, a consideration daily acted upon in judicial
investigations. Negative evidence is, in the abstract, inferior to posi-
tive, because the negative is not directly opposed to the positive testi-
mony; both may be true. Must not this consideration also operate
where there is mere inexperience, on the one hand, of an event in na*
ture, and positive testimonv of the fiict on the other? A^in, what are
the laws of nature, established by firm and unalterable experience?
That there may be, and are, general and even unalterable laws of provi-
dence and nature may readily be admitted ; but, that human knowledge
and experience of those laws is unalterable (which alone can be the t^
of exclusion) is untrue, except in a very limited sense ; that is, it may
fairly be assumed that a law of nature once known to operate, will al-
ways operate in a similar manner, unless its operation be impeded or
counteracted by a new and contrary cause. In a laiger sense, the laws
of nature are continually alterable ; as experiments are more frequent,
more perfect, and as new phenomena are observed, and new causes or
agents are discovered, human experience of the laws of nature becomes
more general and more perfect. How much more extended and perfect,
for instance, are the laws which regulate chemical attractions and affin-
ities than they were two centuries ago ! And it is probable that in fu-
ture ages experience of the laws of nature will be more perfect than it
is at present ; it is, in short, impossible to define to what extent such
knowledge may be carried, or whether, ultimatelv, the whole may not
be resolvable into principles admitting of no other explanation than
that they result immediately from the will of a superior Being. This^
at all events, is certain, that the laws of nature, as inferred by the aid
of experience, have from time to time, by the aid of experience, been
rendered more general and more perfect. Experience, then, so fkr
from pointing out any unalterable laws of nature to the exclusion of
events or phenomena which have never before been experienced, and
which cannot be accounted fer by the laws already observed, shows the
very contrary, and proves that such new events or phenomena may ho
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APraNBDC. S68
oome the ibanditioii of more enlarged, more general, and tbereibre more
perfeot law0« But whoee experience is to be the teetl That of the oh-
Jector ; for the Tery nature of the objection excludes all light fh>ih the
experience of the rest of mankind. The eredibilitr, tHen, of hnman tes-
timony is to depend not on any intrinsic or collateral considerations
which can give credit to testimony, but apon the casual and previous
knowledge of the person to whom the testimony is oflbred ; in other
ends, it is plain that a man's scepticism must bear a direct proportion
to his ignorance. Again, if Mr. Hume's inference be just, the conse-
J[ttences to which it leads cannot be erroneous ; on the other hand, if it
ead to error, the inftrence must be fallacious ; the position is, that hu-
man testimony is inadequate to prove that which has never been ob-
served before, and this, by proving &r too much for the author's pur-
pose, iafel^ de le, and in effect proves nothing : fbr if constant experience
amount to stronger evidence on the one side tluui is supplied by posi-
tive testimony on the other, the argtiment applies necessarily to all
cases where mere constant inexperience on the otie hand is Opposed to
positive testimony on the other. According, then, to this argument,
every philosopher was bound to reject the testimony of witnesses that
they bad seen the descent of meteoric stones, and even acted contrary
to sound reason in attempt infT to account fbr a fact disproved by con-
stant inexperience, and would have been equally foolish in giving credit
to a chemist that he had produced a metal from potash by means of a
galvanic battery. It will not, I apprehend, be doubted that in these
and similar instances the effect of Mr. Hume's argument would have
been to exclude testimony which was true, and to induce false conclu-
sions ; the principle, therefore, on which it is founded must of necessitv
be fiJIacious. Nay, Airther, if the testimony of others is to be rejected,
however unlikely they were either to deceive or be deceived on the
mere ground of inexperience of the &ct testified, the same argument
might be urged even to the extravagant length of excluding the author-
ity of a man*s own senses ; for it might be said that it is more probable
that he should have labored under some mental delusion, than that a
&ct should have happened contrary to constant experience of the course
of nature.
In stating that the inference attempted to be drawn firom mere inex-
perience is fallacious, I mean not to assert that the absence of previous
experience of a particular fact or phenomenon is not of the highest im-
portance, to be weighed as a circumstance in all investigations, whether
they be physical, judicial, or historical ; the more remote the subject
of testimony is fh>m our own knowledge and experience, the stronger
ought the evidence to be to warrant our assent ; neither is it meant to
deny that in particular instances and under particular circumstances,
the want or absence of previous experience may not be too strong for
positive testimony, especially when it otherwise labors under suspi
cion. What is meant is this, that mere inexperience, however con-
stant, is not in itself, and in the abstract, and without consideration
of all the internal and external probabilities in favor of human testimo-
ny, sufficient to defeat and destroy it, so as to supercede the necessity
of investigation. Mr. Hume's conclusion is highly objectionable, in a
philosophical point of view, inasmuch as it would leave phenomena
of the most remarkable nature wholly unexplained, and would operate
to the utter exclusion of all enquiry. Estoppels are odious, even in ju-
dicial investigations, because they tend to exclude the truth ; in meta-
physics they are intolerable. So conscious was Mr. Hume himself.
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304 APPENDIX.
of the weakness of his geoertl asd sweeping position, that in the i
ond part of his tenth section he limits his inference in these remarka-
ble terms, < I bee the limitations here made may be remaiked, when I
say that a miracle can never be proved so as to be the foundation o^ «.
system of religion ; fer I own that otherwise there may possibfy be mir-
acles or violations of the usual course of nature of such a kind as io adf
Mtf f^ proof from human testimony**
In what way the use to be made of a fact, when proved, can afibct
the validity of the proof, or hew it can be that a fiu;t proved to be true
is not true for all purposes to which it is relevant, I pretend not to on-
derstand. Whether a miracle, when proved, may be the foundation of
a system of religion, is foreign to the present discussion ; but when it is
once admitted that a mirade may be proved by hwnan testimony^ it
necessarily follows, fh>m Mr. Hume's own concession, that his general
position is untenable , far that, if true, goes to the fiill extent of proving
that human testimony is inadiqtuUe to the proof of a miracle, or viola-
tion of the laws of nature.**
FINIS.
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